Bourse edges up on telecoms, banks

Tuesday, 25 September 2012 00:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Sri Lankan stocks edged up Monday as investors picked up telecommunication and banking shares, while retail investors made speculative plays, dealers said.

The Colombo Stock Exchange’s main index, or all share price index (ASPI), ended 0.1%, or 5.83 points, firmer at 5,915.90.

The index had risen 19% in 15 sessions through to Sept. 17 on hope that a newly appointed Securities and Exchange Commission head would come up with ideas to revive the market, which is down 2.61% this year.

The bourse has been overbought since Aug. 28, Thomson Reuters data shows. The 14-day Relative Strength Index on Monday was at 93.857, well above the upper neutral range of 70.

Turnover on Monday was 748.9 million Sri Lanka rupees ($5.70 million) compared with this year’s daily average of 923 million rupees.

The bourse saw a net foreign inflow of 95.27 million rupees, extending the net foreign inflow this year to 30.16 billion rupees.

The rupee closed firmer at 131.03/08 to the dollar compared with Friday’s close of 131.40/45 as banks bought rupees, dealers said.