Friday, 31 January 2014 00:34
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REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares fell on Thursday, led by blue chips and large caps and due to foreign selling, following the regional trend a day after the US Federal Reserve further trimmed its monetary stimulus.
The Fed announced a further $ 10 billion reduction in its monthly bond buying as it stuck to plans to wind down its extraordinary stimulus despite the recent turmoil across many emerging markets.
The main stock index lost 0.4%, or 24.88 points, to 6,227.26. The fall was led by a 1.93% loss in market heavyweight Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC and a 3.16% fall in Cargills (Ceylon) PLC.
Shares in John Keells Holdings lost 0.29% to end at Rs. 240, a day after it posted a 17% year-on-year gain in its December-quarter net profit.
Foreign investors were net sellers of Rs. 216.5 million ($ 1.66 million) worth of shares on Thursday, but bourse has witnessed net inflow of Rs. 823.5 million so far this year. They bought Rs. 22.88 billion of stocks last year.
Stockbrokers said local retail and institutional investors were active in markets after interest rates in treasury bills eased at a weekly auction on Wednesday to multi-year lows, making fixed-income assets unattractive.
The index has been in an overbought region since 7 January, Thomson Reuters data shows. It has risen 5.32% so far this year, following a 4.8% gain in 2013, after having fallen in the previous two years.
The day’s turnover was Rs. 808 million, less than last year’s daily average of about Rs. 828.4 million.
