A tech glitch in a broker vendor system spoiled investor sentiment early yesterday but the stock market saw a high turnover of nearly Rs. 13 billion.

The All Share Price Index finished the day down 37 points or 0.4% and the S&PSL was lower 35 points or 1%. Turnover was Rs. 12.85 billion involving 650.16 million shares.

Clients of five brokers whose system was linked to the vendor were impacted. However yesterday’s volume traded was higher than Friday’s 648.6 million shares, though turnover was higher at Rs. 16.5 billion.

Post-trading, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) requested a root cause analysis from the system provider Iron One Technologies Ltd., regarding the disruption to the order management system provided to four stockbroker firms during trading yesterday, which resulted in trading difficulties to clients of these firms.

The mishap caused by one broker system vendor out of three was a setback for the super momentum the CSE enjoyed last week, reaching all time high and a whopping Rs. 55 billion turnover. Expectations were that the bullish sentiments would continue and CSE’s market capitalisation will surpass the Rs. 4 trillion-mark despite some degree of profit taking.

Asia Securities said following five consecutive sessions of robust gains, the indices closed lower yesterday on profit-taking despite price gains in LOLC group companies. 

It said despite recording strong turnover, disruptions to trading activities due to a failure in the ‘ATrad’ trading system during early hours was also a cause for the slowdown in the ASPI momentum. “With a 182-point gap up, the ASPI commenced trading crossing the 9,100 level and reached an intra-day high of 9,113 before investors opted to book profits at higher levels,” Asia said. 

It said EXPO and HAYL, which were under demand last week, recorded price losses during the session and weighed on the indices throughout the session while prices of LOLC group companies such as LOLC, BIL, and BRWN advanced sharply on the back of heavy retail and HNI buying. Eventually, BIL topped the turnover list with a contribution of 37% while LOLC surpassed EXPO to reclaim the most valuable company status with a market capitalisation value of Rs. 286 billion. 

Asia also said foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 128 million while their participation increased to 1.2% of turnover (previous day 0.7%). Net foreign buying topped in HAYL at Rs. 11.4 million and net foreign selling topped in VONE at Rs. 46.6 million. 

First Capital said the bourse headed back to the negative territory, despite recording a more than Rs. 10 billion high turnover for the third straight session.

“Index peaked within the first few minutes of trading but failed to hold and scaled lower as the day progressed due to investors resorting to profit-taking in selected counters, closing at 8,894, losing 37 points,” First Capital added.

It said turnover was led by the Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector, followed by the Capital Goods sector accounting for a joint contribution of 55%.

NDB Securities said the ASPI closed in red as a result of price losses in counters such as Expolanka Holdings, Hayleys and Ceylinco Insurance.

It said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in John Keells Holdings, LB Finance and Sanasa Development Bank. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Dipped Products and LOLC Holdings, whilst retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, SMB Leasing and Lanka Orix Finance.

The Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments), whilst the sector index gained 0.59%. The share price of Browns Investments increased by Rs. 0.80 (8.42%) to close at Rs. 10.30.

The Capital Goods sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Hayleys), whilst the sector index decreased by 0.17%. The share price of Hayleys declined by Rs. 4.25 (3.74%) to close at Rs. 109.50.

Expolanka Holdings, Dipped Products and LOLC Holdings were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Expolanka Holdings lost Rs. 6.75 (4.52%), closing at Rs. 142.50. The share price of Dipped Products moved up by Rs. 1.30 (1.98%) to close at Rs. 67.10. The share price of LOLC Holdings recorded a gain of Rs. 28.75 (5.02%) to close at Rs. 601.

Separately, Abans Electricals announced a first and final dividend of Rs. 3 per share.

CSE asks Iron One for root cause analysis after disruption