Turkish shares close higher, lira stays steady

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish shares closed higher Thursday, with gains in the financial and industry sectors driving prices higher.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST-100, the country’s benchmark index, closed up 0.88 percent (673.57 points) at 76,789.89.

On the fourth trading day of the week, the banking sector index rose about 1.49 percent and the holding sector index was also up 0.41 percent.

The mining sector ended 0.13.23 percent higher for the day, with a total trading volume of 3.2 billion Turkish liras ($1.1 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's most actively traded stocks were Garanti Bank, Turkish Airlines, state lender Halkbank, private lender Akbank, and Koza Gold

- Gold prices drop

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index lost 0. 99 percent in value Thursday compared to Wednesday's closing, with gold trading at 124,970 Turkish liras per kilogram.

The Turkish lira lost against the dollar at 2.9360 compared with the previous day's close of 2.9485, as the greenback was firm against global currencies in overseas markets amid rising prospects for a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.