Colombo shares down amidst concerns over stable Govt.   

Colombo’s stock trading saw high turnover at Thursday’s close but both indices slipped with analysts saying that due to the current political uncertainty, retailer interest will prevail at the Colombo Stock Exchange. 

They added that for the next few days amid accelerated foreign outflows the main All Share Price Index (ASPI) will drop. It declined by 0.95 to close at 5,930.59 while the more liquid S&P SL20 declined by 1.51 per cent to close at 3,063.82 points on Rs. 1 billion turnover. 

“We are seeing foreign selling and locals are buying, but retailers can’t absorb this right through,” an analyst said noting that there’s an impending wait and see situation as there is no confirmation on the parliamentary majority of the government. 

The country’s political mayhem which was triggered late last month when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister, remains. Mr. Sirisena abruptly fired the incumbent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who claims he’s still in charge. (DEC)