Turkish stocks down at opening

ANKARA (AA) - Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index declined 146.11 points to open at 78,593.06 on Friday.

The country's benchmark index was down 0.19 percent while the banking sector and holding sector indices decreased by 0.26 percent and 0.25 percent respectively.

Among the sector indices, the information technology sector gained the most with a 0.42 percent rise. The tourism sector index fell hardest with a 4.36 percent decline.

On the last trading day of the week, Turkey's stock exchange market will be open until noon due to the upcoming Republic Day on Saturday, which is an official holiday.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate, which was at 3.1030 by the time markets closed on Thursday, saw a historic hike at 3.1160 early Friday.