Bourse up on strong earnings; Rupee weaker

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s stock market rose 1 percent on Friday to a three-week high led by top conglomerate John Keells Holdings after it posted better-than-expected earnings in the last quarter.

Shares of John Keells advanced 3.37 percent to 183.90 rupees a share, a day after the company said its June quarter net profit rose 34 percent year-on-year.

The Colombo Stock Exchange’s main index rose 1.17 percent, or 56.90 points, to 4,933.09, highest since July 4.

The day’s turnover of 425.68 million rupees, well below this year’s daily average of 895.2 million rupees.

Foreign investors were net buyers for a sixth straight session on Friday, buying a net 70.4 million rupees worth of shares, extending the net foreign inflow so far this year to 24.1 billion rupees.

The rupee closed weaker at 131.50/70 against the dollar in thin trading volumes from Thursday’s close of 131.20/30 on importers’ demand for dollars.