Friday Nov 08, 2024
FT
Friday Nov 08, 2024
Thursday, 18 January 2024 00:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Colombo stock market’s woes persisted for the seventh consecutive session as indices declined further amidst net foreign outflow.
The indices were down by over 0.6% as the year to date (YTD) dip of ASPI increased to 1.6% and S&P SL20 worsened to over 3%.
Turnover yesterday was Rs. 803 million involving 31.6 million shares.
The market also saw fresh net foreign selling worth Rs. 332.5 million increasing the YTD outflow to Rs. 1.4 billion.
Asia Securities said the market sustained downward movement with the indices moving downwards amidst subdued overall momentum.
From a technical standpoint, the ASPI is currently approaching oversold territory based on the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI), added Asia.
Notable price declines were recorded by CALT (-7.0%), AMF (-6.1%), LMF (-6.1%), BIL (-2.2%), EXPO (-2.3%), and FCT (-3.7%). Nevertheless, TKYO (+1.3%), CFIN (+1.0%), HAYC (+1.2%), GHLL (+3.5%), and LHCL (+2.3%) saw price gains during the session. The breadth of the market was negative with 50 price gainers and 116 decliners.
Turnover was led by CINSX (Rs. 295 million) as the foreign selling in the stock was absorbed by domestic investors.
First Capital said the bourse closed in the red once again, recording 7 consecutive losses in the index. It said the market witnessed a large sum of money being taken out of the stock market as panic selling and margin calls begin to set in, causing ASPI to falter by a further 66 points to 10,480. Banking sector counters too dropped as investors chose to take profits. Further CALT and LIOC saw a drop in their share prices after observing a drop in their YoY earnings following the release of their December ending quarterly results.
NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Ceylinco Insurance nonvoting, John Keells Holdings and Teejay Lanka. Mixed interest was observed in Capital Alliance, Browns Investments and Expolanka Holdings whilst retail interest was noted in Industrial Asphalts, LOLC Finance and Co-Operative Insurance Company.
The Insurance sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Ceylinco Insurance nonvoting) whilst the sector index lost 0.47%. The share price of Ceylinco Insurance nonvoting decreased by Rs. 20 to Rs. 780.
The Diversified Financials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Capital Alliance) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.76%. The share price of Capital Alliance moved down by Rs. 3.70 to Rs. 49.50.
John Keells Holdings, Browns Investments and Expolanka Holdings were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of John Keells Holdings lost Rs. 1.25 to Rs. 185. The share price of Browns Investments recorded a loss of 10 cents to Rs. 4.40. The share price of Expolanka Holdings declined by Rs. 3.25 to Rs. 137.75.
