No Christmas cheer for CSE as weekends with losses

There was no Christmas cheer for the Colombo stock market as the week ended with both indices down though turnover spiked driven by crossings.

The ASPI lost 136.48 points (1.27%) during the week while the S&P SL20 lost 62.44 points (2.01%). In the previous week ASPI declined by 51.76 points (0.48%) and the active S&P SL20 edging down 0.35 points (0.01%) lower. 

Turnover this week averaged Rs. 2.4 billion, improving from Rs. 763 million last week mainly due to increased crossings executed during the week.

Asia Securities said the indices edged down ahead of the long weekend due to price losses in HNBN (-1.2%), LIOC (-1.5%), CALT (-1.8%), and HAYL (-1.6%). Nevertheless, AEL (+1.5%), GLAS (+2.2%), EXPO (+2.7%), TJL (+2.6%), and TKYOX (+1.5%) saw buying interest in an otherwise subdued session. Overall, 58 stocks ended in green while 77 settled with losses.

Turnover picked up to Rs. 4.8 billion owing to a Rs. 3.8 billion crossing in CFVF. 

Foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 217.9 million. Net foreign buying topped in GLAS at Rs. 82.5 million and selling topped in CARG at Rs. 264 million.

First Capital the Bourse reversed back into the red zone after yesterday’s one-off win, attributed to low investor participation caused by the upcoming holiday season. ASPI was recorded at 10,606 which is an 18 point drop from the previous session, mainly caused by negative sentiment on blue chip and banking counters such as HNB, JKH and SAMP. 

Market turnover was greatly influenced by an off-board transaction on CFVF valued at Rs. 3.8 billion that took place through a crossing of +101.2 million shares traded at Rs. 37.1 whilst recording a stake change of 25%, which amounted to 90% of the total market turnover. Additionally, there were off-board transactions on CARG and AEL. However, retail turnover was relatively low due to low investor participation. Foreign investors remained net sellers, with a large continued selling on CARG.

NDB Securities also said crossings were witnessed in First Capital Holdings, Cargills, and Access Engineering, accounting for 88.2% of the turnover. Mixed interest was observed in Piramal Glass, Expolanka Holdings and Hatton National Bank whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, LOLC Finance and Tess Agro. 

The Diversified Financials sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to First Capital Holdings) whilst the sector index gained 0.45%. The share price of First Capital Holdings decreased by 50 cents to Rs. 28.10.

The Food and Staples Retailing sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Cargills) whilst the sector index closed flat. The share price of Cargills closed flat at Rs. 345.

Access Engineering, Piramal Glass and Expolanka Holdings were also included amongst the top turnover contributors.

The share price of Access Engineering moved up by 30 cents to Rs. 19.80. The share price of Piramal Glass recorded a gain of 60 cents to Rs. 27.60. The share price of Expolanka Holdings appreciated by Rs. 3.75 to Rs. 144.75.