Sri Lankan bourse up on bargain hunting

Sri Lankan stocks edged up on Friday for a second straight gain as institutional investors sought bluechip firms such as National Development Bank and the island nation's fourth largest lender Sampath Bank, stockbrokers said. The main index gained 0.86 percent, or 40.72 points, to 4,798.70. National Development Bank and Sampath Bank rose 2.7 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.
Turnover was 309.3 million rupees, well below the daily average of 968.7 million rupees this year. The rupee ended flat at 130.35/45 against the dollar in dull trade as importer dollar demand was offset by the exporter sales of greenback, dealers said.