Premier blue chip John Keells Holdings saw its market capitalization surpassing US $ 2 billion today for the first time amid sharp price gains, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) provisional data showed.

As at the end of today's market, JKH's market cap stood at Rs.255.5 billion, amounting to 10.16 percent of the total market. The JKH share today rose by over Rs.13 to close at Rs.298.

According to the provisional CSE data, the All Share Price Index rose 1.51 percent amid the more liquid S&P SL20 rose 1.73 percent. The market turnover stood at Rs.1.28bn.