The stock market closed steady in dull trade with foreign investors buying into the island nation's risky assets.

The rupee, which touched 178.85 per dollar in early trade, ended at 178.45/55, compared with Tuesday's close of 178.30/40, market sources said.

The local currency posted a weekly loss of 0.7 percent last week due to importers' demand in the latter part of the week.

It has risen 2.3 percent so far this year as exporters converted dollars and foreign investors purchased government securities amid stabilising investor confidence in Sri Lanka after the country repaid a $1 billion sovereign bond in mid-January.

The bond market saw inflows of 11.4 billion rupees in the week ended Feb. 6, recording its third straight weekly inflow, the latest central bank data showed.

Worries over heavy debt repayment after a 51-day political crisis that resulted in a series of credit rating downgrades dented investor sentiment as the country is struggling to repay its foreign loans.

The rupee dropped 16 percent in 2018, and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia due to heavy foreign outflows.

The Colombo Stock Exchange index ended steady at 5,930.47 on Wednesday, hovering near its lowest close since Nov. 23 hit in the previous session. ** The benchmark index fell 0.3 percent last week, and declined about 1 percent in January.

The turnover was 278.9 billion rupees ($1.56 billion), well below last year's daily average of 834 million rupees.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 83.4 million rupees worth shares on Wednesday. But they have been net sellers of 4.7 billion rupees worth of stocks so far this year, and 18.1 billion rupees since the political crisis began on Oct. 26, 2018.