CSE begins fresh week negatively; net foreign inflow ends after 10 days

The Colombo stock market began a fresh week on a sharply negative note amidst lacklustre investor interest.

The active S&P SL20 index declined by 2.22% and the benchmark ASPI by 1.65%. Turnover was Rs. 1.26 billion involving 51.3 million shares.

Following 10 consecutive sessions of net foreign inflows, foreigners ended on the selling side with a net outflow of Rs. 59 million driven by MELS (Rs. 127 million).

Asia Securities said the indices closed sharply lower on Monday on the back of price losses recorded by frontline stocks during the session. Notably, EXPO (-5.0%), AAIC (-3.7%), SCAP (-2.5%), LIOC (-2.4%), BIL (-1.7%), LOLC (-1.1%), and COMB (-2.4%) ended in red largely due to retail selling. Turnover was led by AAIC (Rs. 178 million), SCAP (Rs. 159 million), and EXPO (Rs. 143 million).

Overall, 31 stocks ended in green while 141 closed with losses. EXPO (-21 points) ended as the biggest laggard on the ASPI, followed by COMB (-13 points), SFCL (-10 points), and DIAL (-10 points).

Foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 59.5 million. Net foreign buying topped in SPEN at Rs. 36.1 million and selling topped in MELS at Rs. 127 million.

First Capital said the bourse continued its downward trend for yet another day as selling pressure mounted with poor reported results which was affected by tax spooked investor confidence. As a result, volumes continued to remain thin as investors remained on the side-lines waiting for the prices to correct, affected by poor results.

It said the Index continued to plunge and was further pulled down by EXPO as negative sentiment was triggered following the Drewry’s World Container index contracts below $ 2,000 per FEU for the first time since July 2020.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Melstacorp, Ceylon Tobacco Company, Aitken Spence. Mixed interest was observed in Softlogic Life Insurance, Expolanka Holdings and Lanka IOC whilst retail interest was noted in Softlogic Capital, SMB Leasing nonvoting and Browns Investments.

The Insurance sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Softlogic Life Insurance) whilst the sector index lost 0.87%. The share price of Softlogic Life Insurance decreased by Rs. 5 (3.75%) to Rs. 128.50.

The food, beverage & tobacco sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Melstacorp) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.87%. The share price of Melstacorp recorded a loss of Rs. 1.60 (3.02%) to Rs. 51.30.

Softlogic Capital, Expolanka Holdings and Lanka IOC were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Softlogic Capital lost 40 cents (2.45%) to Rs. 15.90. The share price of Expolanka Holdings dipped Rs 9.25 (4.99%) to Rs. 176.00. The share price of Lanka IOC declined by Rs. 4.50 (2.37%) to Rs. 185.75.