Sri Lankan stocks dipped on Tuesday as foreign buying of shares in Caltex Lubricants Ltd offset sales in blue chips, while many investors held back ahead of the 2005 budget due on November 18, brokers said. The key Colombo all-share index ended down a provisional 0.26 percent, or 3.78 points, at 1,446.69 points.
The bourse has gained over 36 percent so far this year on upbeat corporate earnings and a strong leisure and hotel sector, which propelled the index to a string of record closing highs in October before easing off.
The Milanka index hich tracks the most liquid and highly capitalised stocks - dipped 0.25 percent, or 5.12 points, to close at 2,039.35 points.
Foreign investors bought 6.0 million rupees worth of shares of Caltex Lubricants.
"Investors seem confident the Caltex share will do well, but investors are worried about an increase in taxes in the budget," Hussain Gani of John Keells Stock brokers said.
Shares of blue chip conglomerate John Keells Holdings Ltd fell 0.24 percent, to 105.75 rupees a share.
Shares of Asiri Medical Services Ltd, which made its debut on Friday, were down by 0.96 percent, at 25.75 rupees a share. Total market turnover was 73 million rupees, well below the recent daily average, with foreign purchases totalling 7.3 million rupees and foreign sales at 1.4 million rupees.
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