Long-held winning streak comes to an end at CSE

The long-sustained winning streak of the Colombo stock market came to an end yesterday due to profit taking and fresh concerns over Moody's downgrading of Sri Lanka's rating.

The All Share Price Index shed 9 points and the S&P SL20 dipped by 11 points. Turnover was lower at Rs. 4 billion with 142.4 million shares traded.

Asia Securities said following consecutive sessions of gains, the indices edged lower due to price declines in a few index heavy counters while turnover was recorded at moderate levels on the back of activity in EXPO and crossings-dominated WAPO.

“The ASPI sustained its upward momentum during the first half of the session to cross the 10,200 mark and scaled a fresh all-time of 10,203 (+56 points) before shedding off its intra-day gains. Eventually, the index ended the session 9.05 points lower, dragged by EXPO, CLC, and LOLC, which collectively contributed around 28 negative points to the ASPI,” Asia said.

“However, turnover generated by the latter two stocks were at relatively subdued levels. Market breadth, on the contrary to the ASPI, remained positive as 117 stocks appreciated in prices while 82 settled with losses,” Asia added.

It said foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 88.6 million while their participation declined to 2% of turnover (previous day 4.5%). Net foreign buying topped in LION at Rs. 21 million and net selling topped in DIAL at Rs. 56.4 million.

Crossings accounted for 22.3% of turnover with 4 crossings recorded in WAPON (Rs. 700.7 million); 1 crossing each in COMBN (Rs. 176 million) HAYL (Rs. 32 million) and AEL (Rs. 25 million).

First Capital said the bourse closed in the red territory after a long-drawn gaining spree while recording a modest turnover.

“The Index opened with a brief downslide but set off on a gaining trend shortly until mid-session reaching an intraday high of 10,204 but failed to sustain the positive momentum and began to tail off with massive volatility. However, the market displayed a slight recovery during the latter part of the session before closing for the day at 10,138,” First Capital added.

It said turnover was led by a joint contribution of 43% from the Diversified Financials sector and Transportation sector.

NDB Securities said the ASPI edged down as a result of price losses in counters such as Expolanka Holdings, Commercial Leasing & Finance and LOLC Holdings.

It said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Guardian Capital Partners, Commercial Bank and Hayleys. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Swisstek and Access Engineering, whilst retail interest was noted in Amana Bank, Browns Investments and Kotagala Plantations.

Diversified Financials sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Guardian Capital Partners), whilst the sector index lost 0.57%. The share price of Guardian Capital Partners gained Rs. 2.40 (7.43%) to close at Rs. 34.70.

Transportation sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Expolanka Holdings), whilst the sector index decreased by 1.25%. The share price of Expolanka Holdings decreased by Rs. 2.75 (1.26%) to close at Rs. 216.25.

Commercial Bank, Access Engineering and Browns Investments were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Commercial Bank moved up by 70 cents (0.80%) to close at Rs. 88.30. The share price of Access Engineering recorded a gain of Rs. 1.70 (6.97%) to close at Rs. 26.10. The share price of Browns Investments declined by 10 cents (0.89%) to close at Rs. 11.10.

Separately Swisstek announced an interim dividend of 80 cents per share.