Sri Lankan bourse ends firmer

Sri Lankan stocks started the year firmer on Monday as investors snapped up shares after sharp declines last week, taking advantage of a lull in attacks on the military by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels, traders said.
Colombo's All Share Price Index rose a provisional 1.38 percent to end at 1,948.69 points. The bourse closed 1.75 percent higher on Friday, taking the index's total gains for 2005 to over 25 percent.
But the index is still clawing back sharp losses sustained last month after a rash of deadly claymore mine attacks on the military that stoked fears of a return to civil war. The index fell 3.9 percent on Wednesday and 6.9 percent on Tuesday. "It's mainly the retail investors, but we've had some big trades in stocks like John Keells Holdings," said Suresh Samaradivakara, a broker at Lanka Securities. Leading conglomerate John Keells rose 0.58 percent to 130.75 rupees a share, while leading mobile phone operator Dialog Telekom - the bourse's most heavily weighted share - gained 3.03 percent to 17 rupees.
Dialog was among the companies whose shares dropped sharply last week after a deadly claymore fragmentation mine blast by suspected Tigers killed 12 soldiers.
Telecoms heavyweight Sri Lanka Telecom also rose 3.03 percent to 17 rupees a share.
Dialog and Sri Lanka Telecom both ended 2005 trading at 16.50 rupees each.
The Central Bank said on Friday that economic growth picked up in the third quarter of 2005 to its fastest annual pace in more than a year, boosted by services and industry, prompting the central bank to raise its expectations for 2005 expansion.
Gross domestic product in the third quarter rose 6.4 percent over a year earlier, outpacing a 6.0 percent expansion in the second quarter. New President Mahinda Rajapakse is targeting annual growth of 8.0 percent over the next six years, but analysts say that may be difficult given security concerns.
Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim is due to visit the island on January 23 in a bid to break the deadlock between the government and the Tigers, and traders will closely watch for signs of whether the Rajapakse can avert a slide back to war.