Sri Lankan stocks rose to a record closing high on Wednesday on heavy buying in select blue-chip shares on hopes of upbeat quarterly earnings and bonus expectations, brokers said. The key Colombo all-share index rose a provisional 0.75 percent, or 125.39 points, to 1,660.50 points. The bourse has gained more than 10 percent so far this year, supported by a strong construction sector and hopes of good quarterly earnings for the three-months to December 31, 2004.

The bourse hit its previous closing high of 1,650.7 on Monday.

The Milanka index which tracks the most liquid and highly capitalised stocks - rose a provisional 1.01 percent, or 22.88 points, to 2,292.48 points.

Conglomerate John Keells Holdings rose 4.23 percent, to 135.50 rupees on expectation of a bonus issue and good quarterly results. "Keells has had a track record of giving bonuses so there is market expectation of a bonus while quarter earnings are expected to be good too," said Mahesh Pieris, broker at Asia Capital Securities. Keells is the largest listed company on the bourse and holds more than 10 percent of the All-share index's total market capitalisation. Nations Trust Bank Ltd rose 2.33 percent to 22 rupees. Aitken Spence and Co Ltd was up 0.13 percent to 380.50 rupees.

Conglomerate Hemas Holdings Ltd rose 2.91 percent to 106 rupees after it posted a net profit of 236 million rupees in the third quarter ending in December 31, a 49 percent gain from the same period in 2003.

Total market turnover was 293.2 million rupees.

Copyright Reuters, 2005