Sri Lankan stocks fall on foreign selling

March, 15, 2018

Reuters - Sri Lankan shares fell on Wednesday from their highest close in nearly two weeks hit in the previous session, as selling by foreign investors weighed on sentiment, brokers said.

Foreign investors sold a net 183.3 million rupees ($1.18 million) worth of shares, but they have been net buyers of 7.1 billion rupees worth of equities so far this year.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.54 percent weaker at 6,519.48.

Falls in large cap Ceylon Tobacco Co Plc dragged down the overall index, said Dimantha Mathew, research head at First Capital Holdings.

“The market came down on small quantity of CTC trade and some banks also came down as investors think the earnings could be hit on some tough regulatory compliance,” he added.

Turnover was 1.6 billion rupees, more than this year’s daily average of around 973.3 million rupees.

Shares in Ceylon Tobacco ended 4.8 percent weaker, Ceylinco Insurance Plc fell 7.6 percent and Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc slipped 0.22 percent.

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