Opening day of the week Sri Lankan closed higher, on the back of Friday's gains but a strong rally at the opening petered out towards the end as investors booked profit, brokers said.
The main All Share Price Index closed up 30.12 points (0.53 percent) at 5,755.56, while the more liquid Milanka index rose 54.40 points (1.11 percent) to close at 4,976.21. Turnover was 1.4 billion rupees, according to stock exchange provisional figures.
Selling pressure came in as investors realized profits."Foreign participation stood at 18.3 percent of the total market activity and at the end of the day foreign investors were the net sellers with a net foreign outflow of 314.0 million rupees," Lanka Securities said.
Prices of banking stocks such as NTB, Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank and DFCC rose sharply.
National Development Bank was the top contributor to the daily turnover with one big crossing or off-market private deal.
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