Sri Lanka inflation declines to 3.5 percent in August 2014

Aug 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka's inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumers' Price Index (CCPI) , declined to 3.5 percent in August 2014 on a year-on-year basis after rising to 3.6 percent in July, figures released by the Census and Statistics Department Friday showed .

The year on year inflation has been in single digit figures for 64 months continuously.

Annual average inflation, which declined since June 2013, declined further to 4.5 percent in August 2014, from 4.7 percent in the previous month.

The general price level decreased in August 2014 by 0.5 percent for the first time in 10 months compared to the prices in the previous month. The absolute CCPI computed by the Department of Census and Statistics dropped to 182.3 from 183.2 in July.

Decline in prices of certain food items, mainly in vegetables, Potatoes, Red onions, Green Chilies, Coconuts and Sugar offset the rise in prices of rice contributing to the overall decline in the index for August.
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CHC Rest Houses to be developed

The Ceylon Hotels Corporation (CHC) Rest Houses would be developed with an investment of Rs.250 million through the joint venture leisure arm of CHC, Ceylon Holidays Holdings (CHH), a company filing to the stock exchange stated. CHH is a fully owned subsidiary of CHC and Zinc Hospitality Lanka would be investing Rs.250 million for 50 per cent equity in Ceylon Holidays. Zinc Hospitality is the hospitality arm of the multinational conglomerate Cinnovation / CG Group.
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Sri Lanka stocks at over 3-year high on large caps, banks

Aug 29 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan stocks hit more than three-year high on Friday, led by large cap and banking shares as low interest rates and continued foreign buying into risky assets boosted sentiment, brokers said.

The main stock index ended up 0.61 percent, or 42.33 points, at 7,034.09, its highest close since Aug. 16, 2011.

Up to Friday's close, the index had gained 18.96 percent this year.

"With low interest rates and low inflation the market will continue to go up despite being slightly over heated," said a stockbroker asking not to be named.

"We may see profit-taking here and there but it will continue to go up."

The bourse has been trading in an overbought region since July and on Friday the Relative Strength Index, a momentum indicator tracked by chartists, was at 74.982, Thomson Reuters data showed. Stocks are deemed "overbought" above the 70-mark, which tends to signal a reversal in the near-term.

Ceylon Tobacco Co Plc, which led the overall gains in the index, rose 1.37 percent to 1,197.20 rupees, while biggest listed lender Commercial bank of Ceylon Plc rose 1.3 percent to 148 rupees.

Shares in Dialog Axiata Plc rose 0.9 percent to 11.20 rupees.

Friday's turnover stood at 1.14 billion rupees ($8.76 million), slightly below this year's daily average of 1.2 billion rupees.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 101.3 million rupees worth of shares on Friday, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to 8.2 billion rupees.

The central bank rejected all 91-day treasury bill bids for the second straight week at an auction, while yields on the 182-day and 364-day treasury bills held steady at a weekly auction on Wednesday. 

($1 = 130.1800 Sri Lankan rupee) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Anand Basu)