Sri Lankan stocks fell on Monday in thin trade, with most blue chips edging lower and investors taking a wait-and-see attitude ahead of Friday's general election.
The key Colombo all-share index ended down a provisional 0.47 percent, or 6.14 points, at 1,314.00, with market turnover of about 88.4 million rupees.
"There are certain high-net worth individuals taking punts, but right now a lot of people seem to be staying out and waiting to see who can form a government," said one broker at Asia Securities.
Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd fell 1.37 percent, or 0.25 rupees, to 18 rupees, while John Keells Holdings Ltd led market turnover with about 219,000 shares traded and picked up 0.23 percent, or 0.25 rupees, to 109.25 rupees.
The two stocks account for about 25 percent of the market. The banking sector was mostly flat, with Nations Trust Bank Ltd holding steady at 23.75 rupees and Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd at 153 rupees.
Despite a period of volatility following the election call in early February, the market is up about 20 percent this year, partly because of speculative buying in select stocks.
But brokers say the market would favour a victory for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the party of President Chandrika Kuamratunga, after his party pursued privatisation of state-owned assets and tightened fiscal discipline.
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