Stock market begins April positively

THE Colombo stock market yesterday began the holidays-filled April on a positive note, lifting the morale of investors who have been concerned by back-to-back losses during the past two months. The benchmark ASPI gained by over 119 points or 0.76% and the active S&P SL20 by 0.6%. During February and March, the ASPI had lost 4% each.

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Turnover yesterday was Rs. 1.9 billion involving 63 million shares.

First Capital said the first trading session for April commenced on a negative note for a short while, with the ASPI dropping as the mar ket opened. This trend soon reversed as it began picking up and building on positive momentum throughout the rest of the day.

The initial drop in the index was largely fuelled by the banking sector as most banks' XD date being yesterday led to added selling pressure among certain investors.