Sri Lankan shares recovered on Friday from a 11-week low hit in the previous session led by market heavyweight John Keells Holdings while turnover hit a more-than-seven-week high due to a block deal in Textured Jersey Lanka. Local investors were mostly on the sidelines due to political uncertainty ahead of parliamentary elections. The main stock index ended up 0.35 percent at 7,007.05, recovering from its lowest close since April 15 hit on Thursday.
The day's turnover was 2.46 billion rupees ($18.43 million), its highest since May 14 and more than double this year's daily average of 1.08 billion rupees. Textured Jersey Lanka accounted for over 77 percent of the day's turnover. The shares, however, ended 0.4 percent down.
John Keells Holdings gained 2.18 percent to 182.30 rupees, pushing up the overall index. President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament last week and scheduled elections for August 17, in an effort to consolidate power and push through political reforms. The market saw a net foreign outflow of 429.8 million rupees on Friday, after recording a net outflow of 4.6 billion rupees over the past 27 sessions.