Bourse ends up; turnover surges on Textured Jersey block deal

Reuters: Shares recovered on Friday from a 11-week low hit in the previous session led by market heavyweight John Keells Holdings while turnover hit a more-than-seven-week high due to a block deal in Textured Jersey Lanka.

Local investors were mostly on the sidelines due to political uncertainty ahead of parliamentary elections.

The main stock index ended up 0.35% at 7,007.05, recovering from its lowest close since 15 April hit on Thursday.

The day’s turnover was Rs. 2.46 billion ($ 18.43 million), its highest since 14 May and more than double this year’s daily average of Rs. 1.08 billion. Textured Jersey Lanka accounted for over 77% of the day’s turnover. The shares, however, ended 0.4% down.



John Keells Holdings gained 2.18% to Rs. 182.30, pushing up the overall index.

President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament last week and scheduled elections for 17 August, in an effort to consolidate power and push through political reforms.

The market saw a net foreign outflow of Rs. 429.8 million on Friday, after recording a net outflow of Rs. 4.6 billion over the past 27 sessions.

However, foreign investors are net buyers of Rs. 1.34 billion worth of shares so far this year.