Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.4-pct

Mar 06, 2014 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's stocks close 0.43 percent higher Thursday with index heavy John Keells Holdings extending gains, brokers said. Ceylon Tobacco Company closed flat at 1,120.00 rupees and Distilleries closed 80 cents lower at 204.20 rupees.

DFCC bank closed 1.90 rupees higher at 144.10 rupees and NDB Bank ended 1.00 rupee higher at 180.00 rupees.

Union Bank closed 50 cents higher at 18.50 rupees and HDFC Bank closed 10 cents higher at 31.40 rupees.

The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 25.50 points higher at 5,961.93 up 0.43 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 17.08 points higher at 3,234.05, up 0.53 percent.

Turnover was 716.06 million rupees, up from 281.18 million rupees a day earlier with 112 stocks close positive against 63 negative.

Foreign investors bought 461.70 million rupees worth shares while selling 458.61 million rupees of shares.

JKHâ€™s W0022 warrants closed 70 cents higher at 63.90 rupees and its W0023 warrants closed 30 cents higher at 66.30 rupees, attracting most number of trades during the day.

JKH closed 4.90 rupees higher at 224.90 rupees and Trans Asia Hotels closed 3.80 rupees higher at 83.40 rupees, contributing most to the index gain.

SLT closed 30 cents higher at 45.10 rupees and Dialog Axiata closed flat at 9.00 rupees.