AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,941 Increased By 63.6 (0.92%)
BR30 22,802 Increased By 233 (1.03%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's rupee ended weaker on Tuesday, as banks bought dollars to facilitate stock-related outflows and importer greenback demand, market sources said. The stock market closed down as foreign investors continued selling for the second straight session on Tuesday.

The rupee closed at 178.30/40 per dollar, compared with Monday's close of 177.75/90, 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 2.5 percent so far this year as exporters converted dollars and foreign investors purchased government securities after a statement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and government's $1 billion debt repayment boosted confidence.

Investor confidence in Sri Lanka is stabilizing after the country repaid a $1 billion sovereign bond in mid-January, the central bank chief said last month.

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 Index ended 0.51 percent weaker at 5,930.21 on Tuesday, its lowest close since Nov 23.

Bourse fell 0.3 percent last week, and declined about 1 percent in January.

The turnover was 1.1 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($6.18 million), well above last year's daily average of 834 million rupees.

Foreign investors were net sellers of 261.4 million rupees worth shares on Tuesday.

They have been net sellers of 4.8 billion rupees worth of stocks so far this year, and 18.2 billion rupees since the political crisis began on Oct. 26, 2018.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

Comments

Comments are closed.