Sri Lanka rupee ends firmer; port strike dents importer dollar demand

Reuters: ** Sri Lanka's rupee ended slightly firmer on Thursday due to exporter dollar sales, while a trade union strike at customs dampened importer demand for the greenback. 

** Stocks snapped a five-session winning streak to end lower as foreign investors exited from risky assets. 

** A strike by Sri Lanka customs officers that left 6,000 containers stranded at the country's main port and put pressure on food prices, had dampened the demand for dollars from importers. 

 ** The rupee closed at 177.65/85 per dollar, compared with Wednesday's close of 177.70/178.00, market sources said. 

** Rupee posted a weekly gain of 2.8 percent last week as exporters converted dollars and foreign investors purchased government securities after a statement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and government's $1 billion debt repayment boosted confidence. 

** The currency has appreciated 2.8 percent so far this year. 

 ** Investor confidence in Sri Lanka is stabilising after the country repaid a $1 billion sovereign bond in mid-January, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said last week. 

 ** Worries over heavy debt repayment after a 51-day political crisis that resulted in a series of credit rating downgrades dented investor sentiment as the county is struggling to repay its foreign loans, with a record $5.9 billion due this year, including $2.6 billion in the first three months. 

 ** The rupee dropped 16 percent in 2018, and was one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia due to heavy foreign outflows. 

** The political crisis had dented investor sentiment and delayed Sri Lanka's borrowing plans. Sri Lanka had plunged into political turmoil when President Maithripala Sirisena abruptly removed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and then dissolved parliament. Wickremesinghe was later reinstalled as premier. A court ruled the dissolution was unconstitutional. 

 ** The Colombo Stock Index ended 0.04 percent firmer at 5,959.79 on Thursday, edging up from its lowest close since Jan. 23 hit on Wednesday. Stocks declined 1 percent in January. 

** Turnover was 797 million rupees ($4.49 million), less than last year's daily average of 834 million rupees. 

** Foreign investors net sold 685.1 million rupees worth shares on Thursday. They have been net sellers of 3.4 billion rupees worth of stocks so far this year, and 16.8 billion rupees since the political crisis began on Oct. 26, 2018. 

** The bond market saw inflows of 924.7 million rupees in the week ended Jan. 30, the latest central bank data showed. 

($1 = 177.5000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)