CSE gains after 4-days; triggers over Rs. 800 m net foreign buying

The Colombo stock market yesterday managed to gain after four days of loses amidst renewed investor optimism with foreigners accounting for a high net buying of Rs. 808 million.

The benchmark ASPI gained by 0.35% and the active S&P SL20 by 0.23%. Turnover was Rs. 1.8 billion involving 61.7 million shares. 

Asia Securities said after four sessions of declines, the indices closed in green supported by WIND (+1.0%), SAMP (+1.8%), DFCC (+1.0%), COCR (+1.1%), ACL (+1.4%), DIPD (+1.4%), LLUB (+1.0%), and RCL (+1.2%). 

The ASPI reached an intra-day high of 12,142 (+66 points) before consolidating in the 12,120 range in the second half of the session. Price losses in PLC (-4.0%), HOPL (-5.1%), TJL (-1.0%), and LIOC (-2.2%) exerted downward pressure on the indices. WIND (Rs. 591 million), SAMP (Rs. 435 million), and HHL (Rs. 255 million) came in as the biggest contributors to turnover. CINS (+15 points) and SAMP (+11 points) ended as the major drivers of the ASPI while MELS (-4 points), LIOC (-4 points), and PLC (-3 points) were the biggest laggards on the index. The breadth of the market was positive with 100 price gainers and 67 decliners.

Turnover was led by off-board transactions in WIND (Rs. 547 million), SAMP (Rs. 360 million), and HHL (Rs. 188 million). Notably, off-board transactions accounted for 60% of market turnover during the session. A notable increase in foreign activity was observed in the market, with a net foreign inflow of Rs. 808 million led by WIND (Rs. 500 million), SAMP (Rs. 222 million), and HHL (Rs. 96 million). Foreign selling topped in HNB.N at Rs. 7.4 million.

First Capital said the Colombo bourse reflected a sideways movement after President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s favourable announcement regarding the bilateral debt deal and possible completion of EDR next week, broke nearly a one-week losing streak. 

Despite the muted participation of retail investors, increased involvement of HNWIs was also observed during the day. The ASPI started the day strongly, reaching an intraday high of 12,144. However, it retreated in the post midday, ultimately recovering from earlier losses to close at 12,118, gaining 42 points for the day. Index-heavy weights including SAMP, JKH and RCL, coupled with mid-cap entities like CINS and DFCC, emerged as the major positive contributors to the index. Turnover saw a 100% increase from Monday and a 5.1% rise from the month’s daily average.  Notably, off-board transactions contributed 60% to the overall turnover and amongst them, a notable transaction was recorded on WIND through two off-board transactions totalling 27.4 million shares traded at Rs. 20, amounting to a stake of 2%. 

The Utilities sector contributed 33.1% to the overall turnover while Banking and Capital Goods sectors jointly contributed 51.6% to the overall turnover. 

NDB Securities said crossings were witnessed in Windforce, Sampath Bank, Hemas Holdings accounting for 60% of the turnover. Mixed interest was observed in Nations Trust Bank, DFCC Bank and People’s Leasing & Finance whilst retail interest was noted in Industrial Asphalts, Browns Investments and Softlogic Capital. 

The Utilities sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Windforce) whilst the sector index gained 1.97%. The share price of Windforce increased by 20 cents to Rs. 20.

The Banking sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Sampath Bank, Nations Trust Bank and DFCC Bank) whilst the sector index increased by 0.51%. The share price of Sampath Bank gained Rs. 1.40 to Rs. 79. The share price of Nations Trust Bank recorded a gain of 75 cents to Rs. 133. The share price of DFCC Bank appreciated by 80 cents to Rs. 77.80.

Hemas Holdings was also included amongst the top turnover contributors with its price dipping by 40 cents to Rs. 82.60