After peace more in Jaffna dealing with bears and bulls!

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 00:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With the end of the terrorism unleashed by the Tigers, more people in Jaffna appear to be dealing with bulls and bears via the Colombo stock market.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) said yesterday that its Jaffna branch, celebrating its first anniversary today, has been successful in attracting over 1,400 stock market investors and generating over Rs. 4 million daily turnover.

The CSE said the branch in Jaffna, the fifth in the region, was set up as part of the initiative to broad-base the stock market and attract more people to invest in listed equities and debt.

“The CSE Jaffna branch was set up with the aim of providing people of the Northern Province an opportunity to share in the peace dividend, from which the country is already benefitting,” the CSE said.

The branch in Jaffna offers residents of the Northern Province a range of services such as access to real time market information as well as via six stockbroker firms housed in it offering services such as investment advice, real time trading, order execution and access to research reports.

Additionally, CDS facilities such as same day account openings, depositing of shares, withdrawal and transfer of shares are also provided along with awareness programmes for students, teachers and existing and prospective investors and access to historical information, including financial reports of listed companies.

“The Jaffna branch aims to reach out to more investors in the Northern Province through our future initiatives, thus giving them an opportunity to reap benefits from the stock market, which is now at their doorstep,” the CSE said.

The CSE’s other regional branches are located in Kandy, Matara, Negombo and Kurunegala. With year to date return of over 10%, Colombo is the Asia’s best performer whilst during the past two years it has been the world’s second best as well.