Crossings boosts CSE turnover to Rs. 2 b after 2 months; net foreign inflow continues

The Colombo stock market reverted to negative territory though crossings boosted turnover to a 2-month high of Rs. 2 billion.

Both price indices were down by over 4%. Turnover amounted to Rs. 2.3 billion involving 36.6 million shares.

Asia Securities  said the indices moved downwards  as investors resorted to profit-taking following three sessions of upward momentum, ahead of the budget reading. 

HAYL (-2.5%), BIL (-1.9%), HHL (-1.4%), MELS (-2.3%), RCL (-1.4%), ACL (-1.1%), LLUB (-1.9%), TKYON (-3.6%), and VONE (-1.5%) took a downward turn while price increases SLTL (+3.6%), CALT (+2.1%), WIND (+1.1%), LFIN (+1.4%), SEYBN (+1.3%), and UBC (+1.0%) helped cushion the ASPI. 

MELS (-10 points), HAYL (-6 points), and LOLC (-5 points) came in as the biggest laggards on the ASPI. Overall, 56 counters recorded price gains while 100 settled with losses.

Turnover crossed Rs. 2bn boosted by a Rs. 1.3bn crossing in SLTL. Apart from this, JKH (Rs. 435mn), EXPO (Rs. 174mn), and COMBN (Rs. 61mn) topped the turnover list. 

Foreigners remained on the buying side for a third consecutive session, generating a net inflow of Rs. 126mn, led by COMBN (Rs. 35mn), JKH (Rs. 23mn), HNBN (Rs. 22mn), and SAMP (Rs. 16mn). 

First Capital said the market closed in the red at 10,889 shedding 49 points as the index snapped the 3-day winning spree with investors resorting to book profits following the price gains experienced in the previous sessions.

The Index opened on a downward trend and continued to decline over the session with heightened selling pressure observed on MELS and HAYL which were also amongst the top negative contributors to the ASPI. However, optimism on Banking counters remained steady in anticipation of healthy quarter results while COMB, HNB and SAMP were also recorded amongst top foreign buying picks for the day.

Turnover improved robustly to Rs. 2.4Bn (+141% cf. monthly average turnover of Rs. 988.7Mn) largely attributed  to SLTL following the Rs. 1.3Bn worth off- board transaction with 55% of contribution stemming from the Telecommunication sector. SLTL saw a 0.7% stake change with 13.2Mn shares traded at Rs. 96 each. Foreign buying interest remained dominant on JKH whilst the company led the turnover with the Capital Goods sector accounting for a contribution of 21%.

NDB Securities said crossings were witnessed in Sri Lanka Telecom and John Keells Holdings, accounting for 54.7% of the turnover. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Hatton National Bank and Access Engineering whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, Dialog Axiata and Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka & Finance.

The Telecommunication Services sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Sri Lanka Telecom) whilst the sector index gained 1.58%. The share price of Sri Lanka Telecom increased by Rs 3.50 to Rs 99.50.

The Capital Goods sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index edged down by 0.11%. The share price of John Keells Holdings gained Rs 1.50  to Rs 197.25.

 Expolanka Holdings, Commercial Bank and Hatton National Bank were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Expolanka Holdings moved up by 50 cents to Rs 130.50. The share price of Commercial Bank recorded a loss of 40 cents to Rs 86.50. The share price of Hatton National Bank declined by one Rupee to Rs 169.75.

Separately Hemas Holdings announced its interim dividend of 40 cents per share.