Losing streak continues at Colombo bourse, foreigners bullish

Saturday, 14 January 2023 01:17 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Colombo stock market continued its losing streak for the second consecutive week as local investor sentiments remained bearish whilst foreigners were bullish.

The benchmark ASPI lost 161.53 points (1.92%) and the active S&P SL20 lost 84.86 points (3.25%). Turnover averaged Rs. 1.8 billion declining from Rs. 2.3 billion in the previous week when ASPI dipped by 0.77% and S&P SL20 by 0.86%.

Asia Securities said the indices ended the week on a low note weighed by price declines in SCAP (-8.6%), AAIC (-5.7%), LIOC (-1.9%), BIL (-3.1%), and LOFC (-1.4%).

Turnover on Friday was Rs. 1.5 billion down from Rs. 1.9 billion on Thursday. SCAP (Rs. 575 million), AAIC (Rs. 259 million), and LIOC (Rs. 107 million) dominated turnover.

As a positive, net foreign inflow picked up to Rs. 110 million (previous session Rs. 11 million) supported by LFIN (Rs. 27 million), MELS (Rs. 15 million), and JKH (Rs. 11 million). The breadth of the market remained negative with 42 price gainers and 129 decliners.

First Capital said the bourse closed the week on a negative note as investor sentiment weakened over a possible delay in Debt restructuring talks with bilateral creditors and a downgrade of Sri Lankan banks’ ratings by Fitch.

Accordingly, a selling spree emerged on major banks where COMB largely dragged the index down. As the macroeconomic worries rose among investors, profit taking witnessed on Softlogic companies (AAIC and SCAP) and Treasury counters which displayed a persistent rally during the past few days. As a result, the index displayed a continuous fall since the beginning and closed the day at 8,263, losing 71 points. Off-board transactions accounted for 4% to the turnover with LFIN (Rs. 26.1 million) and LIOC (Rs. 35.8 million).

NDB Securities said the ASPI closed in the red as a result of price losses in counters such as Commercial Bank, Hayleys and Browns Investments.

It said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Lanka IOC and LB Finance. Mixed interest was observed in Softlogic Life Insurance, Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings 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 1.46%. The share price of Softlogic Life Insurance lost Rs. 6.50 (5.74%) to close at Rs. 106.75.

The Food, Beverage & Tobacco sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.59%. The share price of Browns Investments declined by 20 cents (3.08%) to close at Rs. 6.30.

Softlogic Capital, Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Softlogic Capital decreased by Rs. 1.50 (8.62%) to close at Rs. 15.90.

The share price of Lanka IOC moved down by Rs. 3.50 (1.93%) to close at Rs. 177.50. The share price of Expolanka Holdings recorded a gain of 25 cents to close at Rs. 172.