CSE’s current woes deepen further

The Colombo stock market struggled further yesterday with a sharper dip in indices and net foreign selling though turnover improved.

The active S&P SL20 declined by 1.4% and the benchmark ASPI by 1.1% or 140 points. Turnover was Rs. 3.3 billion involving 109.6 million shares. Foreigners net sellers to the tune of Rs. 588 million.

Asia Securities said the harket continued its downward trend due to a broad-based pullback primarily driven by banking sector stocks SAMP (-1.0%), COMB (-1.5%), HNB (-1.5%), DFCC (-1.2%), and PABC (-2.6%). Moreover JKH (-1.8%), GLAS (-1.0%) and BIL (-3.0%) recorded price losses exerting downward pressure on the indices.

However, LLUB saw a 4.3% gain underpinned by the company’s stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.

LOLC (-11 points), JKH (-11 points), and COMB (-11 points) ended as the major laggards on the ASPI. Overall, 38 stocks ended in green while 158 ended with losses.

Turnover was led by JKH (Rs. 889mn), GLAS (Rs. 162mn), and SAMP (Rs. 148mn).

Asia also said foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 587.8mn.  Net foreign buying topped in LLUB at Rs. 6.6mn and selling topped in JKH at Rs. 380.6mn.

Crossings accounted for 26.5% of turnover led by JKH (Rs. 590.9mn), GLAS (Rs. 158.8mn) and  SAMPN (Rs. 41.6mn).

First Capital said the bourse extended the bearish momentum for the second consecutive day with ASPI closing at 12,359 losing 140 points (c. -1.12%). This decline was particularly influenced by the selling pressure observed on the Banking sector counters like COMB and HNB, as well as index heavy weights such as JKH and LOLC. Furthermore, there was notable buying interest in CTC and LLUB, driven by the recently disclosed earnings reports indicating a substantial upsurge in both revenue and earnings. 

Turnover witnessed a significant increase marking a 32.7% increase from the month’s average. This uptick was attributed to active participation from both retail investors and HNWI. The Capital Goods sector led turnover at 39%, followed by the Banking and Food, Beverage and Tobacco sectors jointly contributing to 31% of overall turnover. Additionally, interest in the Construction sector was also observed.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation were noted in John Keells Holdings, Piramal Glass and Sampath Bank. Mixed interest was observed in Sunshine Holdings, Browns Investments and Royal Ceramics whilst retail interest was noted in LOLC Finance, SMB Leasing nonvoting and Softlogic Capital.

The capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover whilst the sector index lost 1.57%. The share price of John Keells Holdings decreased by Rs. 3.75 to Rs. 203.25.

The Banking sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover whilst the sector index decreased by 1.56%. The share price of Sampath Bank moved down by 80 cents to Rs. 79.10.

Piramal Glass, Sunshine Holdings and Browns Investments were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Piramal Glass lost 30 cents to Rs. 29.

The share price of Sunshine Holdings recorded a gain of 50 cents to Rs. 65.50. The share price of Browns Investments declined by 20 cents to Rs. 6.40.

Separately Carson Cumberbatch and Harischandra Mills declared interim dividends of Rs. 4.70 and Rs. 40 respectively.