first class travel: Sri Lanka stocks up on strong earnings ; rupee weaker

Friday, July 27, 2012

COLOMBO, July 27 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's stock market rose 1

percent on Friday to a three-week high led by top conglomerate

John Keells Holdings after it posted

better-than-expected earnings in the last quarter.

Shares of John Keells advanced 3.37 percent to 183.90 rupees

a share, a day after the company said its June quarter net

profit rose 34 percent year-on-year.

The Colombo Stock Exchange's main index rose 1.17

percent, or 56.90 points, to 4,933.09, highest since July 4.

The day's turnover of 425.68 million rupees, well below this

year's daily average of 895.2 million rupees.

Foreign investors were net buyers for a sixth straight

session on Friday, buying a net 70.4 million rupees worth of

shares, extending the net foreign inflow so far this year to

24.1 billion rupees.

The rupee closed weaker at 131.50/70 against the dollar in

thin trading volumes from Thursday's close of 131.20/30 on

importers' demand for dollars.

($1 = 131.1500 Sri Lanka rupees)

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by

Sanjeev Miglani)

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