Colombo bourse closes as JKH shares steadies

Colombo stocks closed on Wednesday with positive gains with John Keells (JKH) shares showing a marginal gain of 25 cents to Rs.98.50 but market analysts said this cannot be seen as a (gaining) trend in the days to come.

“We are not sure whether JKH will be able to continue with their bunkering business. So the share will hover at the Rs.90 levels,” Srimal Liyanage, Head of Research Lanka Securities said.

Monday’s Supreme Court judgement of the 2002 privatisation of Lanka Marine Services (LMS) to the company affected its share price throughout the last few days. The market ended ‘green’ with the All Share Index up by 17.89 points to 2356.52 with some large cap stocks such as Tokyo Cement, Distilleries, Dialog and LIOC showing gains. Milanka rose by 22.37 points to close at 2800.1. Total turnover stood at Rs.119.5 million.