Sri Lanka stocks close down 0.4 -pct

Aug 04, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks closed down 0.36 percent on Tuesday, following four straight days of gains and profit taking by investors, brokers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 25.05 points lower at 7,310.05 down 0.36 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 16.06 points lower at 4,072.63 down 0.39 percent. Turnover was 1.55 billion rupees, up from 983.64 million rupees Monday with 58 stocks closing positive against 97 negative. The main index showed losses in Ceylon Tobacco closing at 957.50 rupees, down 19.20 rupees and John Keells Holdings closed at 191.90 rupees, down 2.40 rupees with over 1.9 million shares traded. JKH topped the turnover with 377 million rupees. “Foreign investors were net sellers for the third consecutive day with a net outflow of 158 million rupees,” Lanka Securities said. “Foreign participation was 30 percent,” “Net foreign outflows were seen in John Keells Holdings 169 million rupees, Hemas Holdings 62 million rupees, Seylan Bank 23 million while net foreign inflow of 25 million rupees was mainly seen in Hatton National Bank.” In banking stocks, Commercial Bank closed at 170.50 rupees, down 0.50 rupees and DFCC closed at 198.00 rupees, down 0.10 rupees. Dialog Axiata closed flat at 10.90 rupees.