Sri Lanka's bourse rose 1 percent on Friday on retail buying and two large block trades but foreign investors sold out in the largest volume in three months, amid global economic uncertainty, traders said. Sri Lanka's main share index rose 1.24 percent in early trade closed 0.97 percent or 65.97 points firmer at 6,833.06, highest since August 1.
Foreign investors sold a net 871.5 million rupees ($7.9 million) worth of shares on Friday, highest since May 20, extending the week's outflow to 1.26 billion. They have sold 10.1 billion so far in 2011 and a record 26.4 billion in 2010. Block deals of Asian Alliance Insurgence and Colonial Motors pushed the day's turnover to more than 8 month high of 5.74 billion rupees, well above last year's average of 2.4 billion and this year's 2.66 billion.