Sri Lankan stocks down 0.2-pct, turnover lowest in three years

July 02, 2012 (LBO) - Sri Lankan share prices slipped 0.25 percent on Monday, while the turnover plunged to a three year low, on the lack of buying support across the bourse, brokers said. Foreign buying was 35.52 million rupees on sales of 4.48 million rupees.

Turnover was dominated by conglomerate Aitken Spence Holdings PLC, which has investments ranging from leisure to logistics. The counter rose 4.00 rupees to 114.90 rupees on trades of 181,328 shares.

NDB Bank, a development financier and commercial lender, closed flat at 100.00 rupees on trades of 116,900 shares.

Tokyo Cement, the partially Japanese-owned cement maker, gained 10 cents to 30.00 rupees on trades of 100,003 shares.

The market is closed on Tuesday on account of a Buddhist holiday. The key All Share Price Index dipped 12.84 points to 4,952.93, and the liquid Milanka Price Index gained 20.96 points or 0.47 percent to close at 4,404.16. The S&P Sri Lanka 20 indice, which tracks the top 20 liquid counters, slipped 0.25 percent or 6.98 points to close at 2,810.37, according to Colombo Stock Exchange figures.

Mondayâ€™s turnover was 91.65 million rupees, the lowest for the year, but a shade higher than a historic low of 80.9 million rupees posted on April 30, 2009, CSE figures showed.