Bourse up led by blue-chips; turnover subdued

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares ended firmer for a fourth straight session on Friday at a more-than-two-week high led by blue chips, despite some selling by foreign investors.

The turnover was subdued as many investors and stockbrokers were on holidays ahead of Christmas next week.

The main stock index ended up 0.36% at 6,884.69, the highest close since 1 December.

Foreign investors sold a net Rs. 99.1 million (USD 690,352) worth of equities on Friday, extending the net outflow to 4.17 billion rupees so far this year.



Turnover stood at Rs. 696.8 million (USD 4.85 million), just above half of this year’s daily average of Rs. 1.1 billion.

The market is expected to be lacklustre with low turnover due to year-end holidays starting next week, stockbrokers said. Markets will be closed on both Thursday and Friday.

Top conglomerate and market heavyweight John Keells Holdings and fixed-line phone operator Sri Lanka Telecom gained over 2% each, helping the overall index gain.