Sri Lankan shares closed slightly lower on Tuesday after posting a more than 11-week closing high in the previous session, as investors booked profits in beverage stocks and foreign investors trimmed their holdings. Foreign investors offloaded a net 89.85 million rupees ($617,950.48) worth of shares in their first selling in three sessions, extending the net foreign outflow so far this year to 3.35 billion rupees worth of equities.
The fall seems to be a small downturn with some profit-taking after the recent uptrend, said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd. Investors expected the country's economic fundamentals to improve after the central bank on July 28 surprised the markets with a 50-basis point hike in its main interest rates aimed at curbing stubbornly high credit growth.
The benchmark Colombo stock index ended 0.07 percent, or 4.65 points, weaker at 6,577.95. Turnover stood at 851.7 million rupees, more than this year's daily average of around 732.1 million rupees. Shares of Ceylon Tea Services Plc fell 12.56 percent, while Carson Cumberbatch Plc dropped 1.37 percent.