Shares fall for fourth straight session

Friday, 27 July 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares extended their losses to a fourth straight session yesterday as foreign investors sold blue-chip stocks, such as John Keells Holdings PLC and Hemas Holdings PLC.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.14% weaker at 6,153.99, its lowest close since 16 July.

The index dropped 0.47% this week, its first weekly fall in three, bringing its year-to-date losses to 3.4%.

Turnover stood at Rs. 430.8 million ($ 2.7 million), half of this year’s daily average of Rs. 864.5 million.

“The market is slowly coming down on blue-chip selling and is back to its support level of 6,100 again,” said First Capital Holdings PLC Assistant Manager - Research Atchuthan Srirangan.

Foreign investors sold equities net worth Rs. 169.6 million yesterday, extending the year-to-date net foreign outflows to Rs. 2.5 billion.

A downward revision in the economic growth estimate earlier this month by the Central Bank has hurt sentiment, analysts have said.

Economic growth in 2018 is likely to be between 4% and 4.5%, falling short of an earlier estimate of 5%, Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said earlier this month.

Shares of conglomerate John Keels Holdings PLC fell 1.9%, while Hemas Holding PLC ended 3.1% lower. Biggest listed lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon closed 1.5% down, and Sri Lanka Telecom PLC lost 2.9%.

The stocks, bond and foreign exchange markets are closed today for a public holiday and will resume trading on Monday.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.