Sri Lankan shares on Thursday closed at their highest level since March 13, with most sectors trading positive, while gains in industrial, consumer staples and financial sectors boosted the benchmark index.
** The CSE All Share Index closed up 1.82% at 4,887.16.
** Industrial conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc JKH.CM rose 5.5% to its highest since March 20 and was among the top contributors to the session's gains
** Mobile service operator Dialog Axiata PLC, which advanced 5.9%, and cigarette maker Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc, which gained 4.1%, were also among the top boosts for the day.
** Rating agency Fitch on Thursday recalibrated its Sri Lanka National Rating scale, a move that it said would result in rating actions for some bond issuers.
** The recalibration comes a month after it cut the country's sovereign rating to 'B-' from 'B'
** Fitch on Thursday also downgraded the long-term rating on plantation company Kotagala Plantations Plc to 'RD(LKA)' from 'CC(LKA)'
** Trading volume on the benchmark index surged to 109.6 million, compared with 35.3 million in the previous session.
** Foreign investors were net buyers, snapping up 554.7 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.98 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.
** The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 186.3 against the U.S. dollar as of 1301 GMT, marginally weaker compared with last session's close of 186.2, according to Refinitiv data.
** Equity market turnover was 1.2 billion Sri Lankan rupees, data showed.
($1 = 186.3000 Sri Lankan rupees)
(Reporting by Derek Francis; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((derek.francis@thomsonreuters.com))
