Sri Lankan shares rose more than 1 percent on Friday, rising for a third straight session, as investors bought into select battered stocks like conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc after recent falls. The main stock index ended 1.06 percent, or 77.38 points, higher at 7,350.52, moving further away from its lowest close since July 23 hit on Tuesday.
The index had lost 3.2 percent in the two sessions through Tuesday as foreign investors sold off risky assets on fears of a China-led global economic slowdown, and on selling by retail investors for month-end settlements. "Some recovery is taking place, but not at full scale," said Dimantha Mathew, a research manager at First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd. "There is selective buying of some of the stocks that fell sharply during the past few days."
Foreign investors were net sellers of 175.5 million rupees ($1.31 million) worth of shares on Friday, extending the year-to-date net foreign outflow to 3.38 billion rupees. Turnover stood at 1.06 billion rupees, less than this year's daily average of 1.17 billion rupees. Shares of John Keells jumped 3.20 percent, Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc rose 2.04 percent, Sri Lanka Telecom Plc gained 2.97 percent and Dialog Axiata Plc advanced 0.88 percent.