Dip at CSE aggravates after President’s remark on stock market

CSE, The Colombo stock market reversed its gains yesterday after disturbing remarks by President Ranil Wickremesinghe of the alleged closing down of the bourse.

Both indices closed the day with a 0.4% dip after having begun the day with a welcome gain.

Turnover declined to Rs. 740.5 million having crossed Rs. 1 billion mark the previous day/  Volume of shares was a mere 34 million.

Asia Securities said indices closed lower after a positive start dragged by VONE (-2.7%), NDB (-1.8%), CFVF (-2.3%), RICH (-1.0%), and SLTL (-1.2%) while WIND (+3.6%), VFIN (+1.3%), ALUM (+1.1%), HNBN (+1.1%), KHL (+2.9%), and DIST (+2.2%) recorded price gains during the session.

The ASPI initially touched an intra-day high of 9,176 (+51 points) in the early hours before slipping into negative territory in the second half of the session to close at 9,092 (-34 points). Overall, 56 stocks recorded price gains while 106 scaled losses for the day.

Turnover was led by AHUN (Rs. 87 million), SPEN (Rs. 81 million), and SCAP (Rs. 44 million).

Foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 71 million.  Net foreign buying topped in SPEN at Rs. 73.7 million and selling topped in AHUN at Rs. 24.3 million.

First Capital said continuing from Tuesday’s closing, the index picked up by +50 points in the morning session, but towards the latter selling pressure emerged on the market due to uncertainty regarding DDR after the comments from the President at the parliament,  halting the index at 9,092 losing 34 points.

Moreover, having dropped 209 points during the month of April, margin calls also triggered selling pressure in the market. Furthermore, revitalised interest was witnessed in the leisure sector aided by the continuous uptick in tourist arrivals during the month of April. 

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Aitken Spence. Mixed interest was observed in Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings, Expolanka Holdings and Softlogic Life Insurance whilst retail interest was noted in Softlogic Capital, Browns Investments and LOLC Finance.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Aitken Spence) whilst the sector index lost 0.39%. The share price of Aitken Spence closed flat at Rs. 135.

The Consumer Services sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings) whilst the sector index increased by 0.27%. The share price of Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings decreased by 30 cents to  Rs. 59.50.

Softlogic Capital, Expolanka Holdings and Softlogic Life Insurance were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Softlogic Capital closed flat at Rs. 9.70. The share price of Expolanka Holdings recorded a loss of one rupee to Rs. 158.25. The share price of Softlogic Life Insurance appreciated by 10 cents to closed flat at Rs. 9.70.