Colombo bourse remains bearish

The Colombo stock market remained bearish yesterday with indices behaving erratically amidst mixed investor sentiment though foreigners were net buyers.

The benchmark ASPI dipped by over 21 points or 0.2% and the active S&P SL20 by over 2 points or 0.1%. 

Turnover was Rs. 923.3 million (up from Rs. 580 million on Monday), involving 56 million shares.

Asia Securities said the market continued to witness subdued trading momentum as investors took to the sidelines after consecutive sessions of profit-booking.

Front-liners AGSTN (-3.8%), LIOC (-1.2%), TJL (-3.0%), SAMP (-2.6%), COMBN (-1.5%), and MGT (-2.5%) saw price declines during the session while SLTL (+4.5%), FCT (+1.5%), CALT (+2.0%), NTBN (+1.2%), PARQ (+2.0%), SCAP (+1.1%), HHL (+2.3%), and ECL (+12.0%) closed with decent gains in an otherwise negative session. SAMP (-12 points) came in as the biggest laggard on the ASPI, followed by COMBN (-8 points), and NDB (-4 points). Overall, 73 stocks gained during the session while 81 ended with losses.

Turnover was led by DIAL (Rs. 177 million) as buying interest in the stock revived during the session.

Foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 69.2 million. Net foreign buying topped in DIAL at Rs. 58.4 million and selling topped in JKH at Rs. 1.4 million.

First Capital said the bourse closed in the red zone amidst high volatility as the index settled at 9,160 losing 22 points. The market displayed mixed sentiments as it traded low during the early sessions and managed to pick up above 9,200 points but failed to end on a positive note as it closed flat towards the latter part. There was revitalised interest on telecommunication services counters mainly SLTL due to the recent strategies of restructuring state owned enterprises, while DIAL also had high investor interaction supported by foreign buying.

Primary dealers too had high investor participation namely, FCT and CALT backed the index positively. Banks and blue-chip counters continued to have selling pressure on the back of delayed DDO decisions which are yet to disclose.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Agstar, Dialog Axiata, and Hayleys. Mixed interest was observed in Sri Lanka Telecom, Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings whilst retail interest was noted in LOLC Finance, Browns Investments and Industrial Asphalts.

The Telecommunication Services sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Dialog Axiata and Sri Lanka Telecom) whilst the sector index gained 1.27%. The share price of Dialog Axiata decreased by 10 cents to Rs. 10. The share price of Sri Lanka Telecom moved up by Rs. 4.10 (4.48%) to Rs. 95.60.

The Materials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Agstar) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.14%. The share price of Agstar lost 40 cents to Rs. 10.20.

Lanka IOC and Hayleys were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Lanka IOC recorded a loss of Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 124.00. The share price of Hayleys closed flat at Rs. 72.

Separately Richard Pieris & Company announced its interim dividend of 50 cents per share.