Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed down 0.23 percent on Monday with losses in tobacco and beverage stocks following the government increasing the excise duty on cigarettes and liquor with effect from Saturday (03), brokers said.

The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed down 16.48 points at 7,089.06 lower 0.23 percent.

S&P SL20 closed 12.27 points lower at 3,828.48 down 0.32 percent.

Turnover was 641 million rupees, down from 1.34 billion rupees Friday with 69 stocks closing positive against 73 negative.

The main index showed losses in Ceylon Tobacco Company closing at 952.10 rupees, down 13.30 rupees and Distilleries Company closing at 274.00 rupees, down 1.00 rupees.

John Keells Holdings closed down at 168.20 rupees, down 1.80 rupees and Sri Lanka Telecom closed at 47.50 rupees, down 1.70 rupees. Active trading was seen in the textile sector stocks with Textured Jersey closing at 32.90 rupees, down 0.70 rupees and Hayley’s MTG closing at 20.10 rupees, down 0.70 rupees with the stock hitting a52 week high price of 20.20 rupees. DFCC Bank closed at 180.10 rupees, down 1.50 rupees after hitting a 52 week low price of 178.70 rupees. Two off the floor traded were recorded in the stock with 400,000 shares changing hands at 180.00 rupees and 180.50 rupees. Foreign investors continued to be net sellers with a net foreign outflow of 61 million rupees while foreign participation was low at 14 percent. Net foreign outflows were seen in John Keells Holdings 27 million rupees, Commercial Bank 20 million rupees and Commercial Bank non-voting 8 million rupees while net foreign inflow was mainly seen in Sanasa Development Bank 4 million rupees.