Bourse at one-week high; foreign trade boosts turnover

Reuters: Shares gained on Friday to close at a one-week high with strong foreign trade in risky assets boosting turnover though analysts said the index could move sideways until the Government’s budget in mid-November.

The main stock index ended up 0.35% at 7,105.54, its highest close since 25 September.

Foreign investors accounted for 62.5% of turnover, though they were net sellers of Rs. 32.3 million ($ 228,834.57) worth of shares. The net foreign outflow this year is Rs. 2.88 billion.

“Some strong foreign interest has helped boost sentiment,” Danushka Samarasinghe, research head at Softlogic stockbrokers said.

“But the market will be slow because investors are waiting for the Government policies in the budget.”

Blue-chip shares such as Ceylon Tobacco Company gained 1.50%, led the index gain.Turnover was Rs. 1.35 billion ($ 9.56 million), compared with this year’s daily average of Rs. 1.12 billion.