Bourse up on foreign buying

Reuters: Stocks edged up on Friday on foreign buying of blue chips, but the gain was capped by retail profit-taking in speculative shares, dealers said.

The Colombo Stock Exchange’s main index, or All Share Price Index (ASPI), ended 0.14%, or 8.10 points, firmer at 5,910.07.

“The ASPI edged marginally higher amid volatility with improved activity levels due to trades on banking, insurance, telecommunication and diversified counters, inclusive of crossings accounting for a majority of turnover,” John Keells Stock Brokers said in a note to investors.

The index had risen 19% in 15 sessions through to Monday on hope that a newly-appointed Securities and Exchange Commission Head would come up with ideas to revive the market, which is down 2.71% this year.

The Bourse has been overbought since 28 August, Thomson Reuters data shows. The 14-day Relative Strength Index on Friday was at 81.116, well above the upper neutral range of 70.

Turnover on Friday was Rs. 1.36 billion ($ 10.33 million)compared with this year’s daily average of Rs. 924 million.

The Bourse saw a net foreign inflow of Rs. 192.1 million, extending the net foreign inflow this year to Rs. 30.1 billion.

The rupee closed firmer at 131.40/45 to the dollar compared with Thursday’s close of 131.50/60 as on banks’ demand for local currency, dealers said.