Bourse at 3-week high on foreign buying

Saturday, 25 February 2012 01:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s stock market rose to a three-week high on Friday, as foreign investors bought in weakened shares for the 11th straight session, while the rupee fell on importer dollar demand.

The main share index gained 1.07 percent, or 58.70 points, to close at 5,566.30. It has risen 11 percent over the last seven sessions from an 18-month low, once shares dropped into oversold territory.

“Even though the index seems to have found temporary support, we believe that the economy may see signs of hitting a plateau,” Stefan Juriansz, a technical analyst at the Bartleet Religare Securities in Colombo, said.

The index rose higher into neutral territory on Friday with the 14-day Relative Strength Index at 52.232 from Thursday’s 49.346, Reuters data showed.

The Colombo bourse is one of the worst performers this year among Asian markets, with a 8.36 percent loss while the majority have had positive returns.

Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth 122.7 million Sri Lanka rupees ($1.03 million) on Friday, extending the net foreign inflow to 2.94 billion rupees so far this year, after net outflows of 19.1 billion last year.

The day’s turnover was 508.2 million rupees, lowest since Feb. 3. Last year’s average turnover was 2.3 billion. The day’s volume was 20.6 million shares, compared to last year’s record daily average of 102.7 million.

The rupee closed weaker at 119.90/120.00 a dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 119.30/45 on importer dollar demand. It hit an all-time low of 120.90 on Feb. 15, after the central bank stopped supporting a specific price level.