Sri Lanka, Oct. 17 -- The ASPI closed in green as a result of price gains in counters such as Hemas Holdings, Sampath Bank and Vidullanka with the turnover crossing Rs. 8.8bn.

A similar behaviour was witnessed in the S&P SL20. Crossings were witnessed in Hemas Holdings, DFCC Bank and Hatton National Bank nonvoting accounting for 40.3% of the turnover.

Mixed interest was observed in Central Finance Company, Lanka IOC and Dipped Products whilst retail interest was noted in SMB Leasing, LVL Energy Fund and UB Finance Company. Furthermore, foreigners closed as net sellers.

The Banking sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to DFCC Bank, Hatton National Bank nonvoting and Seylan Bank) whilst the sector index gained 0....