Friday, 21 February 2014 00:40
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Reuters: Shares fell for a sixth straight session on Thursday to a more-than six-week low, led by market heavyweight Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC and foreign selling in the country’s risky assets.
The main stock index ended down 0.5%, or 30.08 points, at 5,956.16, its lowest close since 6 January. It has dropped 4.67% in the last 12 sessions.
Foreign investors sold a net Rs. 158.2 million ($ 1.21 million) worth of shares on Thursday, extending the outflow to Rs. 4.83 billion in the past 10 sessions as some offshore funds exited the market.
The Bourse has seen Rs. 3.44 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 market heavyweight Ceylon Tobacco Co Plc fell 2.4%, pulling the overall index down.
The index is still 0.73% up so far this year, following a 4.8% gain in 2013.
The day’s turnover was Rs. 851.6 million, less than this year’s daily average of about Rs. 1.15 billion.
