Shares edge up from near 4-week closing low on foreign buying

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares edged up yesterday as foreign investors sought bargains after a sell-off in the previous session pushed the bourse to four-week lows.

The Colombo stock index closed 0.05% higher at 6,120.69 from 6,117.63 on 7 August, which was its lowest closing level since 11 July. The index has declined about 4% so far this year.

Turnover yesterday was Rs. 967.8 million ($6.06 million), more than this year’s daily average of Rs. 849.8 million.

“Today we have seen foreign buying into some select shares which helped the market,” said Dimantha Mathew, head of research at broker First Capital Holdings.

Foreign investors bought shares worth a net Rs. 576 million. They sold a net Rs. 3 billion worth of equities year-to-date. Shares of John Keells Holding PLC rose 4.5% while Ceylon Tobacco Co PLC ended 1.0% up.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank left its key policy rates unchanged as expected on 3 August, citing its goals of stabilising inflation and fostering sustainable economic growth.

Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said the economy was unlikely to grow more than 4% in 2018, falling short of an earlier estimate of 5%.