CSE ends near 2-week closing low

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares fell slightly yesterday (5 March) and finished the session near a two-week closing low hit last week, as investors sold stocks of diversified and palm oil companies amid continued political uncertainty, stock brokers said.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.06% weaker at 6,552.81, following a 0.28% drop last week. On Wednesday, it posted its lowest close since 14 February.

Turnover was Rs. 1.3 billion ($8.39 million) on Monday, more than this year’s daily average of Rs. 967.9 million.

“It was a very slow day,” said First Capital Holdings Research Head Dimantha Mathew, referring to inactive local investors.

Local investors continued to be on the sidelines as they were still worried about political uncertainty, he added.

Foreign investors bought a net Rs. 45.9 million worth of shares, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to Rs. 5.97 billion worth of equities so far this year.

Shares of Melstacorp Ltd fell 5.3%, Carson Cumberbatch PLC declined 6.1% and Bukit Darah PLC dropped 7.6%. Sri Lankan shares hit a more than three-month high last month after two key parties in the ruling coalition decided to remain in the ruling coalition, allaying fears of a Government collapse.

President Maithripala Sirisena reshuffled his cabinet last week, appointing his Prime Minister as the Law and Order Minister, after the governing coalition suffered a series of defeats in local elections earlier this month.

However, the changes failed to boost the market as the cabinet reshuffle was not enough to address the election defeats, analysts said.