Stock market remains negative amidst low turnover

The Colombo stock market yesterday failed to take off from its Wednesday’s late rally as it closed negative for the second consecutive day.

The market remained bearish throughout yesterday, reversing hopes investors had before the start after a late strong rally checkmated a steeper fall on Wednesday.

The All Share Price Index closed down by 0.65% or 47 points and the S&P SL20 declined by 0.9% or 27 points. Turnover was low at Rs. 1.3 billion with 117 million shares traded.

First Capital said Bourse ended in the red for the second consecutive day, retaining a bearish sentiment. “ASPI moved steadily downwards during the first 25 minutes of trading, reaching an intraday low of 7,289, followed by a slight upward movement over the next few minutes. Later, the index witnessed a sideways movement with sizable volatility during the day, concluding with a loss of 47 points, closing at 7,294,” First Capital added. 

It said turnover was led by the Capital goods sector and Materials sector respectively with a joint contribution of 47%. 

Asia Securities said the indices trended downwards throughout the session on price declines in active counters such as HAYC, DIPD and RCL. Turnover was moderate driven by retail and HNI activity. 

It said the Capital Goods, Materials, Food, Beverage and Tobacco and Banks sectors led activity, collectively accounting for 75.1% of turnover. 

Foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 20.8 million while their participation increased to 9.8% of turnover (previous day 2.5%). Estimated net foreign buying topped in SAMP.N at Rs. 11.9 million and net foreign selling topped in HAYC at Rs. 16.5 million. 

NDB Securities said indices closed in red as a result of price losses in counters such as LOLC Holdings, Expolanka Holdings and Commercial Bank.

It said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Sampath Bank. Mixed interest was observed in Chrissworld Ltd., Dipped Products and Haycarb, whilst retail interest was noted in Industrial Asphalts, Browns Investments and SMB Leasing. 

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Hayleys), whilst the sector index lost 0.84%. The share price of Hayleys moved down by Rs. 0.40 (0.51%) to close at Rs. 78.

The Materials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Haycarb and Dipped Products), whilst the sector index decreased by 1.77%. The share price of Haycarb lost Rs. 2.70 (2.72%) to close at Rs. 96.40. The share price of Dipped Products declined by Rs. 1.50 (2.68%) to close at Rs. 54.50.

Browns Investments and Sampath Bank were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Browns Investments closed flat at Rs. 6.70. The share price of Sampath Bank recorded a loss of Rs. 0.40 (0.76%) to close at Rs. 52.

Separately, Lanka IOC announced a first and final dividend of Rs. 0.85 per share.