Bourse dips to 3-week closing low on rising market interest rates

Wednesday, 4 March 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Stocks fell to a three-week closing low on Tuesday and marked their third straight session of losses due to a rise in market interest rates. The Central Bank raised yields on Treasury bills between 86 basis points and 91 basis points at a weekly auction on Tuesday. It scrapped a lower repo penalty rate of 5% from Monday, five months after it adopted the measure to boost credit growth. The main stock index ended 0.13%, or 9.48 points, down at 7,234.92, its lowest close since 9 February. “There’ll be a slight slowdown in the market temporally with the rise in interest rates,” said Dimantha Mathew, Manager, Research, at First Capital Equities Ltd. Shares of Selinsing Plc fell 20.13%, while Dialog Axiata Plc dropped 1.69%. Market heavyweight John Keells Holdings Plc ended 0.29% up and accounted for 54.8% of the day’s turnover. Day’s turnover was Rs. 1.81 billion ($13.62 million), more than this year’s daily average of Rs. 1.39 billion. Foreign investors were net buyers of Rs. 234.9 million worth of shares, extending the year-to-date foreign inflow to Rs. 1.8 billion.

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