ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s shares gain in mid day trade on Thursday (2), index moved on green over side way consolidation and expectations of the International Monetary Fund has stimulated buying interest, an analyst said.
All Share Price Index gained by 1.12 percent or 100.47 to 9,050.48, while the most liquid share S&P SL20 gained by 1.20 percent or 33.49 points to 2,833.02.
“The current economic environment is pushing the index up, especially the banking counters,” an analyst said.
Banking counters are rising over the possibilities of the IMF agreement coming to a conclusion in the first quarter of the year as the Central Bank had predicted.
The market was on red the previous sessions over delay in financial assurances from China which is mandatory for a $2.9 billion dollar IMF loan and rise in protests against tax hike kept investors in check, analysts said.
“The market is looking for more macro cues because of faster Chinese debt assurance was expected,” an analyst said.
Sri Lanka raised the price of Octane 92 by 8.1 percent or 30 rupees to 400 rupees per litre with effect from February 1 midnight, the state-run fuel retailer said and then was followed by Lanka IOC.
After fuel revisions took place, the LIOC counter had seen some interest, pushing the counter up.
Investors are also expecting a rate cut in the next Monetary Policy Review, the analyst said.
Top gainers at 1130 hours were Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank and John Keells Holdings. The market generated a revenue of 889 million rupees. (Colombo/Feb02/2023)