CSE woes persist; starts fresh week negatively

The Colombo stock market began a fresh week from where it left last week albeit negatively amidst lacklustre local investor interest whilst foreigners were net buyers.

The active S&P SL20 dipped by 1% and the benchmark ASPI declined by 0.8%. Turnover was Rs. 678.6 million involving 51 million shares.

Foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 79.2 million with net foreign buying topping in JKH at Rs. 78.3 million and most selling seen in Dialog at Rs. 40 million.

Asia Securities said the indices extended price losses for a sixth consecutive session on Monday dragged by EXPO (-3.0%), COMB (-3.0%), LOFC (-1.7%), LIOC (-1.6%), SCAP (-5.1%), and RCL (-1.4%). Nevertheless, AEL (+2.7%), UBC (+5.9%), TJL (+1.5%), and GLAS (+3.1%) witnessed some domestic buying which cushioned the ASPI’s downside during the session.

HNB (-16 points) came in as the biggest laggard on the ASPI, followed by COMB (-13 points), and EXPO (-9 points). The breadth of the market was negative with 59 price gainers and 106 decliners.

Turnover dropped as investors remained on the side-lines, keeping an eye on the quarterly earnings reports of companies.

First Capital said after continuous sessions of selling amidst low investor participation the bourse closed on a negative note yet again as the market fell below the psychological barrier of 9,200 and closed the day at 9,187, losing 73 points. The investors took a side-lined approach during the day due to uncertainty on DDR and expectations of poor results from the upcoming quarterly results (after declining by 43.9%YoY in 4Q2022) backed by poor disposable income and taxation.

Furthermore, the Banking sector backed by HNB, COMB alongside EXPO were the top losing contributors to the index dip whilst JKH and AEL witnessed revitalised interest during the day.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Sampath Bank, John Keells Holdings and Chevron Lubricants. Mixed interest was observed in Dialog Axiata, Expolanka Holdings and Lanka IOC whilst retail interest was noted in Blue Diamonds Jewellery Worldwide, Browns Investments and Softlogic Capital.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index lost 0.15%. The share price of John Keells Holdings increased by 50 cents to Rs. 139.

The Banking sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Sampath Bank) whilst the sector index decreased by 2.19%. The share price of Sampath Bank moved up by Rs. 10 cents to Rs. 50.

Dialog Axiata, Expolanka Holdings and Chevron Lubricants were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Dialog Axiata gained 10 cents to Rs. 11. The share price of Expolanka Holdings recorded a loss of Rs. 5 to Rs. 162.50. The share price of Chevron Lubricants declined by 30 cents to Rs. 94.60.