Stocks recover as investors buy select blue chips

Reuters: Shares rose marginally on Friday, recovering from a one-and-a-half-month closing low hit in the previous session, as investors bought select blue chips in low volumes while lower economic growth weighed on the market.

The Statistics Department said after markets hours on Thursday that the economy grew at 3.1% in 2017 and 1.4% in the fourth quarter of last year.

The Colombo stock index rose 0.13% to 6,509.46, snapping two consecutive sessions of declines, and edging up from its lowest close since 1 February hit on Thursday.

It dropped 0.6% this week in its third straight weekly decline.

“Market is up in low-volume trades in some blue chips,” said Atchuthan Srirangan, a Senior Research Analyst with First Capital Holdings PLC, adding that investors were worried about the lower economic growth in 2017.

Turnover was Rs. 824.6 million ($5.29 million), lower than this year’s daily average of around Rs. 966.8 million.

Shares in conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc rose 0.9%, Carson Cumberbatch Plc gained 5.3%, Trans Asia Hotels Plc jumped 6.9% and Hemas Holdings Plc edged up 1.6%.

Foreign investors bought a net Rs. 111.6 million worth of shares, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to Rs. 7.1 billion worth of equities.