The main share index dropped 0.41 percent, or 24.32 points, to 5,900.90, its lowest since Oct.8. It hit an
eight-week high on Thursday.
'The market is down as investors were cashing to buy Keells rights. The market will be sluggish till the rights issue is over,' a stockbroker said on condition of anonymity. The deadline for the rights issue Friday.
Shares in leading fixed line telephone operator Sri Lanka Telecom PLC fell 2.26 percent to 38.90 rupees.
Keells' ordinary shares edged up 0.05 percent to 213.00 rupees, while the conglomerate's rights shares
rose 4.07 percent to 51.10 rupees.
The day's turnover was 481.2 million rupees ($3.68 million), well below this year's daily average of 876.6 million rupees.
Foreign investors were net buyers of 32.6 million rupees worth of shares on Wednesday, extending the year-to-date foreign inflows to 22.79 billion rupees worth of shares.
($1 = 130.8250 Sri Lanka rupees)
(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
(ranga.sirilal@thomsonreuters.com)(+94-11-232-5540)
(Reuters Messaging: ranga.sirilal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)(twitter.com/rangab a)
http://www.xe.com/news/2013/10/23/3618101.htm