Bourse falls to over 7-week closing low; foreign exit continues

Saturday, 22 February 2014 07:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Sshares fell for a seventh straight session on Friday to their lowest closing in more than seven weeks, led by large caps amid foreign selling in risky assets. The main stock index fell 0.32%, or 18.88 points, to 5,937.28, its lowest close since 31 December. It has dropped 4.97% in the last 13 sessions. Foreign investors sold a net Rs. 438.5 million ($ 3.35 million) worth of shares on Friday, extending the outflow to Rs. 5.27 billion in the past 11 sessions as some offshore funds exited the market. The Bourse has seen Rs. 3.88 billion of foreign outflows so far in 2014, after enjoying net inflows of Rs. 22.88 billion last year. Analysts said investors were concerned over possible further foreign outflows, though local investors are still optimistic about risky assets due to falling interest rates. On Monday, the Central Bank kept its policy rates steady at multi-year lows while analysts said local investors were active in the market after interest rates on Treasury bills eased to multi-year lows, making fixed-income assets unattractive. Shares of Nestle Lanka fell 3.77% to Rs. 2,020.90, while market heavyweight Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc declined 1.04% to Rs. 1,157.60. Top conglomerate John Keells Holdings fell 0.93% to Rs. 212.40. The index is still 0.41% up so far this year, following a 4.8% gain in 2013. The day’s turnover was Rs. 1.07 billion, less than this year’s daily average of about Rs. 1.15 billion.

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