Sri Lankan stocks ended higher on Friday as foreign investors confident of a bumper tourist season this winter bought hotel sector shares, brokers said.
The key Colombo all-share index gained a provisional 0.49 percent, or 7.49 points, to 1,534.41 points.
The bourse has gained over 44 percent so far this year on upbeat corporate earnings and a strong leisure sector, and notched up a string of all-time highs in recent weeks before easing slightly as investors skimmed profits.
"There were some positive moves in the leisure sector once again after two days of profit taking dragged the index down," Prasanna Chandrasekara of John Keells Stockbrokers said.
The hotels and travels index ended a provisional 0.48 percent, or 7.31 points higher at 1,530.88 points, propped up by foreign buying in John Keells Holdings Ltd, the holding company of Keells Hotels Ltd. John Keells Holdings shares rose 4.44 percent, to close at 111.75 rupees.
Keells Hotels Ltd rose by 4.0 percent, to 104.00 rupees. Martial Resorts Ltd rose 11.63 percent, to 12.00 rupees.
Gladder Hotels Lanka Ltd rose 21.05 percent or 3.00 rupees at 17.25 rupees per share. Elsewhere, retail buying of 2,949,410 shares boosted Kelvin Tyres Ltd, which closed 38.24 percent higher at 11.75 rupees.
Total Market turnover was below the recent daily average at 272 million rupees, with foreign sales of 22 million rupees and foreign purchases totalling 99 million rupees.
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