Colombo stock market turns bearish

The Colombo stock market turned bearish yesterday amidst low investor activity ending the recent winning streak.

The active S&P SL20 dipped by 1% and the benchmark ASPI by 0.6%. Turnover was Rs. 626 million involving 44.5 million shares.

Asia Securities said following three sessions of gains, the indices closed down on Thursday dragged by price declines in heavyweight stocks.

The ASPI declined 47 points (-0.6%) while the S&P SL20 index skidded to a loss of more than 1 percent (-1.2% or 28 points) due to price losses in EXPO (-3.1%), LOLC (-2.7%), LOFC (-4.1%), SAMP (-1.3%), and DIAL (-1.1%).

However, a sharp pickup in prices of MASK (+21.2%), ASIY (+14.3%), BALA (+10.8%), and BFN (+9.2%) cushioned the overall dip in the ASPI, albeit recording a relatively low turnover for the day. Earlier, the ASPI commenced the session with a gap-down of 86 points at 7,280 (-1.2%) and touched an intra-day low of 7,264 (-102 points or -1.4%) within the first few minutes of trading. 

Subsequently, the index staged a modest recovery of 74 points to 7,338 and moved in the range of 7,300-7,340 for the remainder of the session. Overall, 71 stocks posted price gains for the day while 83 ended with losses.

Asia also said foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 5.4 million. Net foreign buying topped in ASIY at Rs. 5.8 million and selling topped in BALA at Rs. 1.8 million. First Capital said Bourse slipped back to the red zone, snapping the previous three-day rally as the country has been severely hit by political uncertainty. Index plunged over 100 points during the first half of the session and touched an intraday low of 7,260. 

However, investor sentiment improved towards the latter half of the day, as protestors agreed to hand over Government properties, showing signs of prevailing chaos easing. Index witnessed a gradual recovery during the mid-session yet closed lower at 7,318, losing 47 points. 

Turnover was also heavily impacted by the political unrest and was below the YTD average turnover of Rs. 3.3 billion. Meanwhile, Food, Beverage and Tobacco and Diversified Financials sectors jointly contributed 46% to the total turnover.

NDB Securities high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in John Keells Holdings and Galle Face Capital Partners. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Lanka IOC and Kotagala Plantations whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, LOLC Finance and SMB Leasing nonvoting.

Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments) whilst the sector index edged up by 0.07%. The share price of Browns Investments lost 10 cents (1.33%) to close at Rs. 7.40.

Diversified Financials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to LOLC Finance) whilst the sector index decreased by 1.33%. The share price of LOLC Finance declined by 30 cents (4.05%) to close at Rs. 7.10.

Expolanka Holdings, John Keells Holdings and Lanka IOC were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Expolanka Holdings decreased by Rs. 5.50 (3.07%) to close at Rs. 173.50. The share price of John Keells Holdings moved down by one rupee (0.81%) to close at Rs. 122. The share price of Lanka IOC recorded a loss of 60 cents (0.83%) to close at Rs. 71.30.

Separately, Bukit Darah announced their interim dividend of Rs. 1.10 per share.