Bourse edges up on foreign buying

Reuters: Sri Lankan stocks edged up on Friday ending five straight losing sessions as foreign investors bought blue chips, though local investors stayed on the sidelines keeping volumes thin, dealers said.

The Colombo Stock Exchange’s main index gained 0.05 percent, or 2.34 points, to end at 4,854.22.

“There is no liquidity in the market as high interest rates have kept local investors away,” a stockbroker said on condition of anonymity.

The day’s turnover was 168.9 million Sri Lanka rupees ($1.28 million), well below this year’s daily average of 874.87 million rupees.

Foreign investors bought a net 26.8 million rupees worth of shares, extending the net foreign inflow this year to 26.16 billion rupees.

Some traders said local equity investors might shift to fixed-income instruments if interest rates rise further.

Even though the central bank has kept policy rates steady for the past four months, it has allowed yields on treasury bills to increase.

The rupee edged tad firmer at 131.90/95 per dollar from Thursday’s close of 132.00/20 as a state bank sold dollars, dealers said.