Strong January for banks drives Turkish shares higher

ISTANBUL, March 8 (Reuters) - Banking shares drove Turkish equities higher on Friday after figures from the sector watchdog showed strong profits in January while the lira weakened and bond yields rose.

U.S. employment figures that showed hiring dwarfed expectations also helped stocks across Europe at the expense of bonds.

The Turkish banking sector's net profit jumped 37 percent to 2.1 billion lira ($1.17 billion) in January, banking watchdog BDDK said on Friday.

Istanbul's main share index closed up 2.09 percent at 83,541.62 points, outperforming a rise of 0.67 percent in the global emerging markets index. Turkish banks surged 2.94 percent.

Koc Holding shares gained 4 percent after it posted a 2.31 billion lira ($1.29 billion) net profit in 2012, a 9 percent rise from a year ago.

By 1537 GMT, the lira weakened to 1.8052 to the dollar , from 1.7967 late on Thursday. Against its euro-dollar basket it eased to 2.0753, from 2.0744.

The yield on the two-year benchmark bond closed at 5.78 percent, from Thursday's close at 5.73 percent. (Writing by Seltem Iyigun; editing by Patrick Graham)