Stock market rebounds from worst dip in over 2 years

Friday, 7 February 2025 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Colombo stock market yesterday bounced back to close on the up after suffering its worst dip in over two years and losing Rs. 188 billion in value on Wednesday.

The benchmark ASPI gained by over 50 points or 0.3% and the active S&P SL20 by 25 points or 0.5%. Turnover was Rs. 5.2 billion involving 177 million shares.

First Capital said the ASPI gained momentum shrugging off February’s bad start. Wednesday’s negative sentiment appears to have lingered during the early hours of yesterday’s session triggering a drop in the ASPI of over 100 points.

However, as the day unravelled, the ASPI made a turn-around propelled by bargain buying.

Positive contributors to the ASPI outweighed that of negative contributors, marking a remarkable reversal of events. The Banking sector appeared to have recovered as SAMP, DFCC and SEYB stood out as dominant positive contributors to the ASPI alongside CTHR and JKH. CINS exerted noteworthy adverse pressure on the ASPI alongside SPEN and DIAL.

The Banking sector led turnover, its contribution standing at 26.8%. This was followed by the Capital Goods, and Food, Beverage and Tobacco segments, which jointly produced a contribution of 37.1%.

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Amana Bank, Access Engineering and Teejay Lanka. Mixed interest was observed in Browns Investments, Hatton National Bank and LOLC Holdings whilst retail interest was noted in LOLC Finance, Waskaduwa Beach Resort and Dialog Axiata.

The Banking sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Hatton National Bank and Amana Bank) whilst the sector index gained 0.76%. The share price of Hatton National Bank edged up by 25 cents to Rs. 334.25. The share price of Amana Bank moved down by 10 cents to Rs. 25.

The Capital Goods sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Access Engineering) whilst the sector index increased by 0.79%. The share price of Access Engineering recorded a gain of Rs. 1.10 to Rs. 40.

Browns Investments and Teejay Lanka were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Browns Investments gained 10 cents to Rs. 8.60. The share price of Teejay Lanka closed flat at Rs. 54.80.

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