Choppy day for indices ends winning run at CSE

The Colombo stock market indices yesterday had a choppy ride and finished on a negative note ending the recent winning run.

In earlier trading the indices dipped sharply but a fresh round of buying stemmed a closing with a steeper  fall. 

The S&P SL20 declined by 0.7% or 23 points and ASPI by 0.6% or 64 points. Turnover was Rs. 3.7 billion involving 152 million shares.

Asia Securities said following four straight sessions of gains, the indices marked a downtick on due to price losses in heavyweights CINS (-4.4%), EXPO (-1.8%), BIL (-2.5%), HAYL (-3.3%), RCL (-5.8%), LOLC (-3.4%) and LOFC (-4.2%).  

LIOC (+4.7%), CICX (+2.2%), CIC (+2.9%), SAMP (+2.8%) and ALUM (+7.1%) closed with decent gains, cushioning the indices to some extent.  Crossings-led WATA topped turnover (Rs. 519 million), followed by LIOC (Rs. 508 million), and EXPO (Rs. 278 million).

Earlier, the ASPI witnessed a volatile start to the session, hitting an intra-day low of 9,700 (-113 points or -1.2%) followed by an immediate recovery of 134 points to 9,834. The index moved downwards again, reaching a low of 9,732 before settling at 9,749. The breadth of the market turned negative with 82 price gainers and 131 decliners.

Asia also said foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 108.9 million while their participation declined to 2.6% of turnover (previous day 4.4%). Net foreign buying topped in EXPO at Rs. 68.8 million and selling topped in KOTA at Rs. 12.3 million.

First Capital said after four consecutive days in green, ASPI closed the day in red, as investors took profits mainly in Plantation and Transportation (EXPO) sectors. As a result, the index slid nearly 148 points in the beginning, yet recovered later after LIOC continued to rally with a substantial gain. 

However, index failed to recoup at the end and closed the day at 9,749 losing, 64 points. Besides, BALA prices trimmed down significantly after the announcement of the rights issue, in which new shares will be given at a proportion of 1:1 at Rs. 85.00 per share (TERP Rs. 108.25). As a result, profit taking was observed and market price settled to nearly TERP. 

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Watawala Plantations and Central Finance Company. Mixed interest was observed in Lanka IOC, Expolanka Holdings and CIC Holdings nonvoting whilst retail interest was noted in Industrial Asphalts, Browns Investments and Kotagala Plantations.  Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Watawala Plantations) whilst the sector index lost 0.50%. The share price of Watawala Plantations increased by Rs. 7.10 (8.05%) to close at Rs. 95.30.

Materials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to CIC Holdings nonvoting) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.41%. The share price of CIC Holdings nonvoting recorded a gain of Rs. 1.50 (2.16%) to close at Rs. 71.00.

Lanka IOC, Expolanka Holdings and ACL Cables were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Lanka IOC gained Rs. 11.75 (4.72%) to close at Rs. 260.50. The share price of Expolanka Holdings moved down by Rs. 4.25 (1.85%) to close at Rs. 225.75. The share price of ACL Cables declined by 40 cents (0.49%) to close at Rs. 81.70.