Market bounces back

BOURSE: The indices sharply gained yesterday following Monday's plunge on yet another lacklustre day of trading. The turnover level was very low at Rs.159 million with only 6.8 million shares being traded.

The market capitalisation which declined by Rs.30 billion on Monday regained Rs.15 billion yesterday recording Rs.710 billion at the close. The Milanka Price Index (MPI) gained by 68 points to close at 2,945.77 and the All Share Price Index increased by 49 points to close at 2,336.

Analysts said Monday's plunge of the market was mainly due to profit taking by investors who bought shares prior to the festive season. Some analysts were optimistic that the market will continue to perform positively during the rest of the week although turnover levels will not be high.

There was interest on telecom sector shares with 668,000 Dialog shares and 425,000 Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) shares being traded. Dialog share moved up by 50 cents to close at Rs.20.75 and SLT moved up by 75 cents to close at Rs.19.

(CK)