Bourse begins new week on a bullish note

• Foreigners step up selling; Rs. 1 b outflow so far in August

The Colombo stock market began a new week on a bullish note, a trend seen since the beginning of August.

Yesterday investors remained active with turnover amounting to Rs. 5.8 billion involving 232 million shares.

 The indices however were a bit subdued due to profit taking. the ASPI hained by 1.8% and the S&P SL20 improved by 0.8%.

Asia Securities said the market continued its run in the green; however, witnessed some profit taking in active counters following several sessions of gains. LIOC, EXPO, and HAYL, which have witnessed sharp gains recently, closed in the red. Turnover remained near its peak on 12 Friday on the back of strong retail and HNI volumes.

LIOC, BIL, EXPO and HAYL led activity, contributing 44.5% to total turnover. JKH, MELS, RCL, ACL and LWL also saw strong volumes while activity levels continued to improve in counters across the board. The ASPI opened higher at 9,237, dipping to a low of 9,123 mid-session before recovering to close at 9,192. CINS was the single highest contributor to the index (+37 points), followed by BIL (+18 points) and JKH (+11 points). Market breadth was positive with 146 counters gaining and 74 declining.

Asia also said foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 117.8 million while their participation declined to 3.1% of turnover (previous day 7.8%). Net foreign buying topped in JKH at Rs. 29.1 million and selling topped in MELS at Rs. 142 million.

The month-to-date net foreign outflow topped the Rs. 1 billion mark whilst year-to-date figure amounted to Rs. 1.38 billion. 

First Capital said the bourse commenced the week on a positive note and continued to trade in the green for two and a half weeks straight while maintaining the turnover at a healthy level. 

The Index shot up by over 200 points within the first few minutes of the trading and moved sideways afterwards caused by profit taking on HAYL, LIOC and EXPO which previously contributed to the ASPI hike in the recent past. Despite ballooning selling pressure on selected counters, the market managed to close the day at 9,192, gaining 164 points. Following the release of the healthy earnings of Tiles manufacturing counters, institutional investor participation was observed in RCL. Turnover remained on the high side and recorded at Rs. 5.8 billion (+167% of monthly average turnover of Rs. 2.2 billion) although a marginal drop was witnessed compared to the previous day. Capital goods sector and Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector jointly contributed 46% to the turnover while LIOC (Energy sector) solely contributed 19%.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Lanka IOC, Melstacorp and Royal Ceramics. Mixed interest was observed in Hayleys and Vallibel One whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, SMB Leasing and Softlogic Capital.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Hayleys) whilst the sector index gained 2.86%. The share price of Hayleys recorded a loss of Rs. 3.75 (3.18%) to close at Rs. 114.25.

Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments and Melstacorp) whilst the sector index increased by 3.39%. The share price of Browns Investments gained 70 cents (8.54%) to close at Rs. 8.90. The share price of Melstacorp appreciated by 80 cents  to close at Rs. 55.60.

Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Lanka IOC decreased by Rs. 5.25 (3.04%) to close at Rs. 167.25. The share price of Expolanka Holdings moved down by Rs. 2.25 (0.99%) to close at Rs. 225.

Separately, Lee Hedges PLC announced a cash dividend of one rupee per share.