Sri Lanka shares close up 0.1-pct

Aug 19, 2014 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's shares closed in the green Tuesday, recording the highest turnover since March 2012 with the off-market transactions of John Keells Holdings despite strong foreign selling, brokers said. Index heavy John Keells Holdings contributed most to the index gain.

Dialog Axiata closed 10 cents higher at 11.10 rupees and Sri Lanka Telecom closed 80 cents lower at 55.00 rupees.

Ceylon Tobacco Company closed 7.70 rupees lower at 1,217.00 rupees.

The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 6.75 points higher at 6,981.46, up 0.10 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 17.93 points higher at 3,848.50, up 0.47 percent.

Turnover was 8.19 billion rupees, up from 1.79 billion rupees a day earlier with 82 stocks closed positive against 121 negative.

John Keells Holdings closed 4.40 rupees higher at 244.40 rupees with significant off-market transactions totalling 7.20 billion rupees changing hands at 240.00 rupees per share contributing 88 percent of the daily turnover.

JKHâ€™s W0022 warrants closed flat at 70.00 rupees and its W0023 warrants closed 10 cents lower at 79.90 rupees.

MTD Walkers closed 2.40 rupees higher at 44.10 rupees, attracting most number of trades during the day.

Foreign investors bought 2.77 billion rupees worth shares while selling 7.30 billion rupees worth shares.