Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.4-pct

Oct 31, 2014 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's stocks closed 0.44 percent higher with Commercial Bank and John Keells Holdings gaining amid strong foreign buying, brokers said. Commercial Bank of Ceylon closed 3.80 rupees higher at 165.80 rupees and John Keells Holdings closed 2.20 rupees higher at 257.20 rupees, contributing most to the index gain.

DFCC Bank closed 7.40 rupees higher at 228.70 rupees.

The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 32.40 points higher at 7,326.81, up 0.44 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 35.96 points higher at 4,087.38, up 0.89 percent.

Turnover was 3.81 billion rupees, up 2.20 billion rupees a day earlier with 111 stocks closed positive against 96 negative.

Nations Trust Bank closed 3.90 rupees higher at 93.90 rupees with off market transactions of 2.17 billion rupees changing hands at 95.00 rupees per share contributing 57 percent of the turnover.

The aggregate value of all off-the-floor deals represented 66 percent of the daily turnover.

Peopleâ€™s Leasing and Finance closed 60 cents higher at 22.30 rupees and Serendib Engineering Group closed 9.80 rupees higher at 114.60 rupees, attracting most number of trades during the day.

Foreign investors bought 1.90 billion rupees worth shares while selling 217.75 million rupees worth shares.