Stocks end higher; rupee strengthens

• Telecom and diversified stocks prop up market 
• Foreign investors buy riskier assets for the first time in 13 sessions
• Benchmark index closes 0.06% higher at 5,863.48

Sri Lankan shares closed slightly higher yesterday, buoyed by telecom and diversified stocks. The rupee ended firmer. 

The benchmark stock index closed 0.06 percent higher at 5,863.48. The index gained 0.49 percent for the week, but has fallen 3.12 percent so far this year. 
Meanwhile, the rupee ended 0.03 percent firmer at 181.95/182.10 per dollar compared with Thursday’s close of 182.00/10. The currency is up 0.36 percent so far this year. 
Foreign investors bought riskier assets for the first time in 13 sessions as campaigning got underway for the country’s presidential election. 

They bought a net Rs.145.4 million worth of shares yesterday, but they have been net sellers of Rs.3.99 billion of equities so far this year, according to index data. 
One of the two presidential frontrunners, former wartime defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has won the backing of President Maithripala Sirisena’s centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), in the election scheduled for Nov. 16.

Rajapaksa and the other strong candidate Sajith Premadasa, the Housing Minister who has strong backing among the rural poor, started their campaigns last week. 
Equity market turnover was Rs.1.05 billion (US$ 5.77 million), well above this year’s daily average of about Rs. 662.3 million. Last year’s daily average was Rs.834.0 million. 
Foreign investors sold government securities on a net basis for the seventh time in eight weeks, selling a net Rs.102.8 million worth of government securities in the week ended Oct. 9. 
Total foreign outflows from government securities through Oct. 9 stood at Rs.54.9 billion, as per Central Bank data. 

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank left its key rates unchanged last week after loosening policy earlier this year, although growth is likely to remain subdued as the economy faces rising global risks. 
(Reuters)