Sri Lankan shares hit a more than one-week high on Monday, surpassing the 7,000-point psychological barrier as hopes of political stability after the August 17 election helped boost sentiment, stockbrokers said. The ruling United National Party (UNP) has formed a coalition with some other parties to contest the election. Political analysts see the new coalition could increase the ruling party's chances of winning the election.
The main stock index ended up 0.27 percent, or 18.66 points, at 7,002.78, rising for a third session and its highest since July 3. The index crossed a key barrier of 7,000 points, dealers said. The day's turnover stood at 531 million rupees ($3.97 million), just about half of this year's daily average of 1.05 billion rupees. The market saw net foreign outflows of 26.5 million rupees on Monday.