Stock market falls on profit-taking in large caps

Reuters: Shares fell on Wednesday, retreating further from a near 11-month closing high hit on Friday, as investors booked profits in large caps such as Ceylon Tobacco Co Plc and conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc.

The Colombo stock index ended down 0.67% at 6,563.85 with Ceylon Tobacco shedding 1.7% and John Keells declining 0.9%. Meanwhile, Selinsing Plc dropped 23.5 % with 235 shares changing hands.

“After a long time, we saw significant profit-taking in some counters,” said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Holdings Plc. “The positive sign is that foreign interest is still there.”

Analysts said the market will continue to be bullish amid some profit-taking.

Turnover was Rs. 608.04 million ($ 4.00 million), less than this year’s daily average of Rs. 898.8 million.

Foreign investors net bought shares worth Rs. 60.1 million, extending the year-to-date net foreign buying to Rs. 16.46 billion worth of equities.

They bought a net Rs. 14 billion worth of equities in the last 28 sessions with the Bourse seeing inflows in 27 sessions.