Sri Lanka's stock market edged up on Friday as retail and foreign investors snapped up battered shares, while the rupee strengthened with banks selling dollars on speculation the currency will appreciate with stock-related inflows. The main share index jumped 2.09 percent in early trade, but closed 0.12 percent or 6.08 points firmer at 5,285.17.
It jumped more than 5.5 percent on Thursday due to bargain hunting after it fell 13 percent in the nine sessions through February 14 on slowing economic growth fears. The index was in neutral territory on Friday with the 14-day Relative Strength Index at 36.540, above the lower neutral range of 30, Reuters data showed. It is the worst performer among Asian markets with a 13 percent loss so far this year.
Foreign investors were net buyers of 601.8 million Sri Lanka rupees ($5.06 million) on Friday, extending the net foreign inflow to 1.76 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year, after net outflows of 19.1 billion last year. The day's turnover was 2.17 billion rupees. Last year's average turnover was 2.3 billion. The day's volume was 95.5 million shares compared to last year's record daily average of 102.7 million. The rupee closed at 118.20/40 to the dollar, compared with Thursday's close of 118.85/119.10. It hit an all-time low of 120.90 on Wednesday, after the central bank stopped supporting a specific price level.
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