Lanka rupee hits new 31-month high on inflow

Friday, 10 June 2011 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The Sri Lankan rupee hit a fresh over 31-month high on Thursday due to foreign inflows amid exporters’ dollar sales, currency dealers said, while shares gained from a five-week lows, snapping three straight falls, on retail speculative buying.

The rupee hit 109.30 a dollar during early trades, its highest since 30 October 2008, before ending at 109.45/48 from Wednesday’s close of 109.45/50, Reuters data showed.

Currency dealers said exporter selling on fears of further appreciation and around $15 million inflow into a foreign bank resulted in the early gain. Later the currency retreated to close a tad firmer on importer demand for the dollar.

Sri Lanka’s main share index closed 0.3 per cent or 21.92 points firmer at 7,279.62, inching up from its lowest since 5 May, due to speculative retail buying.

“Despite some strategic crossings taking place, the market still seems to be largely dominated by speculative investors,” NDB Stockbrokers said in a research note.

Foreign investors were net sellers of Rs. 382.9 million worth of shares on Thursday and they have sold a net Rs. 7.02 billion worth shares in 2011 after a record 26.4 billion in 2010.

The day’s turnover was Rs. 4.06 billion ($ 37.1 million), well above last year’s average of 2.4 billion and this year’s daily average of 2.9 billion.

Traded volume was 486 million, against a five-day average of 408.7 million. The 30-day and 90-day average trading volumes were 148.9 million and 102.3 million, respectively. Last year’s daily average was 67.9 million.

The bourse is still Asia’s best performer in 2011 with a 9.7 per cent gain, after bringing in the region’s top return of 96 per cent last year.

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.