No overwhelming cheer at Colombo bourse over new President RW

The Colombo stock market yesterday failed to reflect optimism over the election of new interim President as indices closed on a mixed note with recent average turnover. 

The active S&P SL20 closed flat and the benchmark ASPI was up only by 0.3%. 

Yesterday was the first full day of session for the market to react properly to the election of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the interim President to serve the remainder of the term of the ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

 The CSE was closed on Tuesday when the outcome of the secret ballot of MPs was announced. On Tuesday indices gained by only 0.8% however but marked the fourth consecutive day of gain.

Yesterday turnover was Rs. 1.3 billion involving 71 million shares. 

Asia Securities said following a volatile first half, the indices staged a moderate recovery and ended mixed on Thursday (21) with the ASPI closing 24 points (+0.3%) higher and the S&P SL20 marginally down at 2,478 (-0.14 points or -0.01%). 

Turnover was led by BIL (Rs. 256 million), JKH (Rs. 172 million), LIOC (Rs. 153 million), and EXPO (Rs. 119 million). Earlier, the ASPI commenced the session on a positive note, crossing the 7,800 mark with a gap-up of 111 points (+1.4%), however the index slipped into negative territory and touched an intra-day low of 7,683 (-29 points (-0.4%) within the first hour of trading. 

Subsequently, the ASPI regained ground by recovering 68 points from the day’s low and wrapped up the session settling at 7,736 (+24 points). Active counters witnessed a mixed session with LIOC (+3.5%), SAMP (+1.2%), AAIC (+1.4%), and DIPD (+2.7%) closing higher while BIL (-1.2%), EXPO (-0.3%), LOFC (-1.3%), SCAP (-1.7%), and LOLC (-0.9%) recorded losses for the day. The breadth of the market ended almost neutral with 98 price gainers and 84 decliners.

Asia also said foreigners recorded a net inflow of Rs. 1 million. Net foreign buying topped in JKH at Rs. 12.4 million and selling topped in CWM at Rs. 5.1 million.

First Capital said the bourse extended its positive momentum for the fifth straight day as investors expected stability on the political front after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lankan President. As a result, index spiked by over 100 points within the first few minutes of trading and later plunged down to touch an intraday low of 7,681 during mid-day on the back of profit-taking in selected counters with investors selling off their margin positions as month-end neared. 

However, market managed to gather back part of the lost momentum towards the latter part of the session and closed for the day at 7,736, gaining 24 points. Turnover was recorded at a healthy level of Rs. 1.3 billion (+30% cf. monthly average turnover of Rs. 1 billion) was led by Food, Beverage and Tobacco and Capital Goods sectors accounting for a joint contribution of 53%. 

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

Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments and Sunshine Holdings) whilst the sector index gained 0.86%.

The share price of Browns Investments decreased by 10 cents (1.23%) to close at Rs. 8. The share price of Sunshine Holdings appreciated by Rs. 3.50 (11.48%) to close at Rs. 34.

Capital Goods sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.35%. The share price of John Keells Holdings lost 75 cents to close at Rs. 120.25.

Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Lanka IOC moved up by Rs. 2.70 (3.47%) to close at Rs. 80.50. The share price of Expolanka Holdings recorded a loss of 50 cents to close at Rs. 179.75.

Separately Singer Finance announced its interim dividend of 80 cents per share.