* Turnover at 30-mo high; foreign investors sell net $205 mln
* Rupee edges down from 21-mo high on importer dlr demand
COLOMBO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's benchmark share index slipped on Monday with a 30-month high turnover as investors booked profits after three straight rises, analysts said.
Sri Lanka's main share index .CSE closed 0.81 percent or 58.08 percent weaker at 7,089.69. It touched a new intraday high of 7,207.75 points and is Asia's best performer in 2010 with a 109.4 percent gain.
The index had risen 26.3 percent since Sept. 1 through Friday.
Market turnover was 12.5 billion rupees ($112 million), its highest since April 1, 2008, the all-time turnover record.
Private lender Hatton National Bank HNB.CM boosted turnover with an 8 billion rupee block trade. Foreign investors sold a net 205 million rupees and have overall sold 16.8 billion rupees this year.
The recent surge has pushed the index into its overbought zone with the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) at 87.3, over the upper neutral limit of 70, Thomson Reuters data showed. It is trading at the highest forward
price-to-earnings ratio in Asia and global emerging markets at 22.6 times, compared with 13.1 for all Asia and 12.1 for global emerging markets, Thomson Reuters StarMine data showed.
The rupee LKR= inched down to 111.82/85 from Friday's 21-month high close of 111.80/111.85, on importer demand for dollars, currency dealers said.
FACTORS TO WATCH:
- Relaxation of foreign exchange controls by the central bank
- If inflationary pressure will reverse central bank's easing monetary policy stance
- Large foreign buying into shares
- Tax reforms promised by the government and how it proceeds with fiscal reforms agreed with the IMF
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