Dismal week for Colombo stock market

Saturday, 22 April 2023 00:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Colombo stock market ended a dismal week with both indices suffering declines amidst low turnover as investors remained unenthusiastic about prospects for listed equities.

The benchmark ASPI and the active S&P SL20 lost by 1.6% each whilst recording an average daily turnover of Rs. 994 million, down from Rs. 1.3 billion last week.

The negative week was completed with indices closing lower yesterday - ASPI by near 19 points and S&P SL by over 1.5 points. Turnover was Rs. 967 million involving 59 million shares.

Asia Securities said the market was dragged by EXPO (-1.3%), SLTL (-1.6%), TKYOX (-1.0%), LIOC (-1.3%), and SCAP (-1.0%). However, JKH (+1.1%), and TAP (+8.2%) scaled price gains during the session.

Overall retail and HNI activity in the market remained subdued as investors stayed on the side-lines due to lack of clarity over the ongoing domestic debt restructuring talks. The breadth of the market remained negative with 72 price gainers and 94 decliners.

Turnover was led by HHL (Rs. 257 million) as the stock saw Rs. 192 million worth of net foreign inflows during the session. Overall foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 228 million.

First Capital said the bourse closed on a negative note amidst limited volatility observing mixed investor activity during the day. The ASPI was seen declining for the fifth straight session as the investors took a side-lined approach mainly due to the expectations of weak quarterly earnings from the March ended quarter.

Furthermore, even though the index picked up during the early hours of the day the market closed in red losing 19 points to close the day at 9,260. Off-board transactions were recorded by HHL and HNB as they were seen contributing approximately 8% of the total turnover.

The renewed investor interest in HHL and HNB was largely due to the foreign buying interest seen during the day.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Hemas Holdings, Hatton National Bank and John Keells Holdings. Mixed interest was observed in Dialog Axiata, Expolanka Holdings and Tokyo Cement Company whilst retail interest was noted in Blue Diamonds Jewellery Worldwide (voting and nonvoting), Browns Investments and SMB Leasing.

Furthermore, foreigners remained active, closing as net buyers.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Hemas Holdings and John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index gained 0.50%. The share price of Hemas Holdings increased by 90 cents to Rs. 64. The share price of John Keells Holdings recorded a gain of Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 138.50.

The Telecommunication Services sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Dialog Axiata) whilst the sector index edged down by 0.09%. The share price of Dialog Axiata gained 10 cents to close at Rs. 10.90.

Expolanka Holdings and Tokyo Cement Company were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Expolanka Holdings moved down by Rs. 2.25 to Rs. 167.50. The share price of Tokyo Cement Company declined by 40 cents to 48.60.