Negative local sentiment at CSE but net foreign inflow crosses Rs. 25 b mark

The Colombo stock market began a fresh week on a negative note yesterday though net foreign inflow continued to set new records.

Both indices declined by over 1% whilst turnover was Rs. 2.5 billion involving 75 million shares.

Thanks to continued buying into Expolanka Holdings by parent SG Holdings of Japan, net foreign inflow amounted to Rs. 809 million propelling the year-to-date figure to over Rs. 25.4 billion a 10-year high.

Asia Securities said the indices closed in red for the third consecutive session as front-line stocks LIOC (-5.2%), BIL (-5.3%), LOLC (-3.3%), LOFC (-4.9%), and AGST (-7.5%) remained in negative territory largely due to retail selling. However, Softlogic group stocks SCAP (+24.5%), AAIC (+20.0%), and CRL (+19.8%) ended sharply higher. Turnover was supported by EXPO (Rs. 835 million), LIOC (Rs. 588 million), and RICH (Rs. 119 million). 

Apart from Expolanka (Rs. 693 million) net foreign buying was seen on CIC.N as well to the tune of Rs. 106 million. Net foreign selling topped in LOFC.N at Rs. 1.7 million.

Overall, 61 stocks ended higher while 123 recorded price losses during the session according to Asia Securities. 

First Capital said bearish sentiment continued for the third straight day as retail participation remained low ahead of the holiday season. Index was on a downtrend throughout the session caused by profit taking on index heavyweights, mainly on LIOC and BIL, which majorly pulled down the index to close the day at a near three-week low of 8,626, losing 113 points. 

Off-board transactions accounted for 34% of the market turnover with 21 crossings recorded in EXPO (Rs. 652.9 million) as SG Holdings continued to buy back a sizeable quantity of the shares of the company for the fifth consecutive day. 

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Expolanka Holdings, CIC Holdings and John Keells Holdings. Mixed interest was observed in Lanka IOC, Richard Pieris & Company and First Capital Holdings whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, Softlogic Capital and LOLC Finance. 

The Transportation sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Expolanka Holdings) whilst the sector index lost 0.24%. The share price of Expolanka Holdings decreased by Rs. 50 cents to close at Rs. 206.75.

The Energy sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Lanka IOC) whilst the sector index decreased by 5%. The share price of Lanka IOC lost Rs. 12 (5.18%) to close at Rs. 219.50.

Richard Pieris & Company, Browns Investments and CIC Holdings were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Richard Pieris & Company moved down by 30 cents (1.15%) to close at Rs. 25.90. The share price of Browns Investments recorded a loss of 40 cents (5.26%) to close at Rs. 7.20. The share price of CIC Holdings declined by Rs. 1.50 (1.69%) to close at Rs. 87.40.