Turkish stocks set for biggest weekly losses since 2008

** Turkish stocks drop sharply on Friday, triggering multiple trading halts, after Turkey's central bank suspended one-week repo auctions and hiked its overnight lending rate to 46%

** Economists say the move amounts to a tighter policy stance

** Turkish stocks sold off on Wednesday after authorities detained Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main political challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan

** Istanbul's benchmark BIST 100 XU100 is down 7% at 0858 GMT after trading resumed; banking index (.XBANK) falls 9.5%

** The index lost around 16% since Tuesday's close, if losses hold it will see its worst weekly drop since October 2008