Reuters – Sri Lankan stocks ended down on Wednesday from their highest level in six weeks, hit in the previous session, led by profit-taking in Commercial Credit and Finance Plc, while the new tobacco tax weighed on Ceylon Tobacco Company shares.
The benchmark index of the Colombo Stock Exchange ended down by 0.18 percent at 6,571.78.
Commercial Credit and Finance Plc dipped 6.5 percent. The company’s shares jumped 34.6 percent in the previous session after Thailand’s Group Lease PCL bought a 30 percent stake in the firm.
Shares in Ceylon Tobacco Company fell 0.9 percent on concern over a 20 percent tobacco tax weighing on the company’s profit.
Foreign investors sold a net 79 million rupees ($540,725.5) worth of shares on Wednesday, extending the net foreign outflow to 2.93 billion rupees worth of equities so far this year.
Turnover stood at 503.3 million rupees, less than this year’s daily average of around 758 million rupees.