(Reuters) - Sri Lankan stocks fell for the fourth straight session on Tuesday to hit a 6-week closing low, a day after the government announced it would hold a presidential election in January, nearly two years ahead of schedule. Most local investors offloaded positions to cut losses, dealers said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to run for a third six-year term. The poll schedule announcement came amid signs Rajapaksa's popularity is fading after accusations that his party is abusing power.
Analysts said investors were waiting for cues from the 2015 budget scheduled for Friday and a raft of September quarterly earnings expected next week.
Sri Lanka's main stock index fell 0.72 percent, or 52.29 points, to 7,161.16, its lowest since Sept. 9.
"Some people are taking profits and there is no strong local buying. Some local retail investors also sold their shares to cut losses as the index has been on a downward trend," said Danushka Samarasinghe, COO at Softlogic Stockbrokers.
Stockbrokers said trading in local shares may be volatile due to the revised poll schedule and a possible bottoming out of interest rates.
The day's turnover was 897.4 million rupees ($6.87 million), less than this year's daily average of 1.36 billion rupees.
Foreign investors bought a net 165.1 million rupees worth of shares on Tuesday, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to 10.3 billion rupees, exchange data showed.
The country's biggest listed lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc, which led the overall fall of the index, lost 1.43 percent at 158.60 rupees.
Shares in conglomerate John Keells Holdings fell 0.20 percent to 246.50 rupees, while Dialog Axiata Plc ended 0.83 percent down at 12 rupees.
Both the currency and stock markets will be closed for a holiday on Wednesday. Trading will resume on Thursday.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to run for a third six-year term. The poll schedule announcement came amid signs Rajapaksa's popularity is fading after accusations that his party is abusing power.
Analysts said investors were waiting for cues from the 2015 budget scheduled for Friday and a raft of September quarterly earnings expected next week.
Sri Lanka's main stock index fell 0.72 percent, or 52.29 points, to 7,161.16, its lowest since Sept. 9.
"Some people are taking profits and there is no strong local buying. Some local retail investors also sold their shares to cut losses as the index has been on a downward trend," said Danushka Samarasinghe, COO at Softlogic Stockbrokers.
Stockbrokers said trading in local shares may be volatile due to the revised poll schedule and a possible bottoming out of interest rates.
The day's turnover was 897.4 million rupees ($6.87 million), less than this year's daily average of 1.36 billion rupees.
Foreign investors bought a net 165.1 million rupees worth of shares on Tuesday, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to 10.3 billion rupees, exchange data showed.
The country's biggest listed lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc, which led the overall fall of the index, lost 1.43 percent at 158.60 rupees.
Shares in conglomerate John Keells Holdings fell 0.20 percent to 246.50 rupees, while Dialog Axiata Plc ended 0.83 percent down at 12 rupees.
Both the currency and stock markets will be closed for a holiday on Wednesday. Trading will resume on Thursday.
($1 = 130.7000 Sri Lankan rupee)
(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)
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