CSE finishes year as top performing markets in world

The Colombo Stock Exchange finished 2009 as one of the best performing markets in the world with a gain of 125 percent for the broader market ASPI which closed at 3,386 at the end of trading on Wednesday.

The ASPI reached an intraday high of 3,390 during the course of trading for the day.

The more sensitive MPI, which tracks the most liquid stocks of the market, closed at 3,849, a gain of 136 percent for 2009.

The best performing sector for the year was the construction and engineering sector which recorded gains of 356 percent.

The diversified holdings sector which is a good representation of the country's economy gained 212 percent while the banking sector gained 134 percent for the year. The beverages, food and tobacco index gained 114 percent. The Telecommunications sector saw gains of just 36 percent for the year as over capacity and competition kept the company bottom lines low or in the red.

The hotels and travel sector companies grew at an average of 90 percent. The leisure sector had shown the first signs of post war recovery with tourism arrivals increasing month on month since June 2009.