Bourse dips; rupee steady

Reuters: The stock market closed marginally down from a three-month high on Thursday in thin trade on retail profit taking and foreign outflow ahead of a long weekend, while the rupee ended steady.

The main share index closed 0.09 per cent, or 5.47 points weaker, at 5,878.19, from its highest close since 3 October.

“Retail profit taking brought down the market,” a stockbroker said on condition of anonymity. “But still we see a bullish market due to lower interest rates.”







Analysts said a US-based foreign fund had been selling top lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon, which closed flat at Rs. 104.10.



That resulted in a net foreign outflow of Rs. 99.3 million, extending the net offshore selling to Rs. 1.09 billion over five sessions and bringing the year-to-date foreign outflow to Rs. 453.4 million.

Sri Lanka enjoyed a record foreign inflow of Rs. 38.63 billion last year.

A continuous fall in the yields of Government securities has boosted local buying since early December.

Turnover on Thursday was Rs. 569.2 million ($ 4.48 million).

The rupee closed steady at 127.00/20 to the dollar.

Stock and foreign exchange markets will be closed on Friday for a holiday to mark the Holy Prophet’s birthday. Normal trading will resume on Monday.