CSE starts 2023 positively but suffers net foreign selling

The Colombo stock market began the New Year 2023 on a positive note though suffering a net foreign outflow.

The benchmark ASPI gained by 20 points or 0.23% and the active S&P SL20 inched up by 5 points or 0.19%. Turnover was Rs. 1.87 billion involving 131 million shares.

Last week the ASPI gained 109.7 points (+1.3%) and S&P SL20 gained 11.9 points (+0.5%) though the market ended 2022 down 31%.

The CSE also saw net foreign outflow to the tune of Rs. 68 million. Last year it attracted a 10 year high net inflow of Rs. 30.6 billion.

Asia Securities said the indices edged higher in the first session of 2023 amid moderate turnover. SCAP (+18.8%) and AAIC (+9.6%) continued their recent upward trend mainly due to retail buying. Meanwhile, price losses in LOFC (-2.4%), RICH (-2.1%), and JINS (-6.9%) dragged the ASPI down during the session. 

Turnover was led by SCAP (Rs. 515 million), AAIC (Rs. 282 million), and AGST (Rs. 256 million). Asia said the ASPI touched an intra-day high of 8,559 (+69 points) in early trading before gradually declining to 8,510 (+20 points). The breadth of the market ended positive with 106 price gainers and 68 decliners.

Net foreign buying topped in BIL at Rs. 7 million and selling topped in JKH at Rs. 80.3 million. Crossings accounted for 13.2% of turnover with 1 crossing in AGST (Rs. 248 million).

First Capital said the bourse commenced the year on a positive note with a marginal gain as buying interest was enticed on the Softlogic group and Treasury shares, on the back of the signals issued by the CBSL governor indicating possible easing off interest rates. 

The sentiment was further bolstered by the fall in inflation to 57.2% in Dec from 61.0% in Nov-22. Accordingly, the index opened on an upbeat note and continued to remain high and closed the day at 8,510, gaining 20 points. 

Moreover, a 3.4% stake change was witnessed on AGST through an off-board transaction totalling to 15.5Mn shares at Rs. 16.

NDB Securities said the ASPI closed in green as a result of price gains in counters such as Expolanka Holdings, Softlogic Capital and Aitken Spence.

High net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Agstar. Mixed interest was observed in Softlogic Life Insurance, John Keells Holdings and Lanka IOC whilst retail interest was noted in Softlogic Capital, Browns Investments and LOLC Finance. 

The Insurance sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Softlogic Life Insurance) whilst the sector index gained 1.54%. The share price of Softlogic Life Insurance gained Rs. 8.30 (9.58%) to close at Rs. 94.90.

The Materials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Agstar) whilst the sector index edged down by 0.10%. The share price of Agstar closed flat at Rs. 15.40.

Softlogic Capital, John Keells Holdings and Browns Investments were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. 

The share price of Softlogic Capital increased by Rs. 1.90 (18.81%) to close at Rs. 12. The share price of John Keells Holdings recorded a gain of 25 cents to close at Rs. 135.50. The share price of Browns Investments closed flat at Rs. 7.