CSE sees end of 15-day winning streak; foreigners net buyers

The Colombo stock market yesterday began a fresh week on a negative note ending the 15-day winning streak. The active S&PSL20 declined by 0.4% and the benchmark ASPI by 0.1%. Turnover was Rs. 2.6 billion involving 78.4 million shares.However foreigners shifted to net buying of Rs. 126 million.                                                        

Asia Securities said following 15 consecutive sessions of price gains, the indices edged down on dragged by price losses in LIOC (-5.4%), CICN (-7.1%), CICX (-7.6%), BIL (-1.5%), and EXPO (-1.5%). Following a gap-down to 11,071 (-23 points), the ASPI rebounded to 11,116 (+22 points) in mid-day trading before closing out at 11,094 (-13 points). CARG (+8.4%), LOLC (+3.8%), FCT (+3.9%), KHL (+7.0%), AHPL (+3.2%), and COMBX (+2.9%) recorded price gains during the session.  

      

LOLC (+12 points), COMBN (+12 points), and CARG (+12 points) came in as the major index movers while LIOC (-10 points) and CICN (-7 points) ended as the biggest laggards on the ASPI. Overall, 91 stocks recorded price gains and 102 settled with losses.                                                                                                               Turnover was led by CARG (Rs. 301 million), LIOC (Rs. 243 million), and MELS (Rs. 164 million). Foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 126.6 million. Net foreign buying topped in SPEN.N at Rs. 121.8 million and selling topped in JKH at Rs. 57.7 million.First Capital said commencing the week, ASPI slid to the red zone losing 13 points, snapping the fifteen-day rally as investors chose to book profits on index heavyweights.Panic selling on LIOC drove the index down amidst the new entrance to the retail fuel market (Sinopec to start operation in Aug 2023) coupled with the implementation of MRP for fuel going forward, which is expected to intensify competition.

On the upside, investor interest persisted on selected banking counters mainly COMB as the bank continued to be the largest lender to the SME sector in 2022 (34.2% with Rs. 195.8 billion) and is expected to benefit from the recovery of private sector credit in 2H2023 aided by declining interest rates. Furthermore, hotel sector shares continue to gain during the day on the back of significant rise in tourist arrivals (1st to 20th July: 89,724 arrivals, YTD: 714,598 arrivals).

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Cargills, Melstacorp, and Dankotuwa Porcelain. Mixed interest was observed in Lanka IOC, Aitken Spence, and CIC Holdings nonvoting whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, RIL Property and SMB Leasing. The Banking sector was the top contributor to the market turnover whilst the sector index gained 0.56%. The Capital Goods sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Aitken Spence) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.69%. The share price of Aitken Spence recorded a gain of 75 cents to Rs 149.75.

Cargills, Lanka IOC, Melstacorp, and CIC Holdings nonvoting were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Cargills increased by Rs 25 to Rs 323. The share price of Lanka IOC lost Rs. 8  to Rs 139.75. The share price of Melstacorp moved up by 30 cents to Rs 76.30. The share price of CIC Holdings nonvoting declined by Rs 4.50 to Rs 55.10.