Negative close for Bourse

The Colombo bourse ended the week on a negative note with the broad index, the All Share Price Index (ASPI) losing ground marginally over Thursday’s  close.

SC Securities said the ASPI lost 0.23% (12.35 points) to end the day at 5,351.25 points, whilst the Milanka Price Index (MPI)  shed 0.44% (21.71 points) to end at  4,868.83 points.

 The S&P SL 20 Index (S&P) ended the week at 2,942.02 points, declining by 0.34% (10.14 points) for the day.

Market turnover narrowed down to Rs. 344.75 million chiefly due to the lack of any high value trades. The top five turnover generators for the day were John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH), Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC (TKYO), Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka (DIST), Nestle Lanka PLC (NEST), and Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC (AHUN). The top five contributors accounted for 52% of the total market turnover.

JKH ended as the top turnover generator for fourth day running, witnessing a turnover of Rs. 74.49 million. A volume of 354 k shares traded during the day. The counter ended the day at LKR 208.50, shedding 1.51% (LKR 3.20) over yesterdays’ close.

TKYO witnessed a solitary crossing of 1.11 million shares at a price of Rs. 27.90. The counter generated a total turnover of Rs. 32.31 million. The share ended the day at 27.10, rising by 0.37% (10 cents) over the previous close.

Among the other top turnover generators were NEST and AHUN. Both the counters witnessed price appreciations during the day. NEST gained 1.94% (Rs. 24.90) while AHUN rose by 1.28% (Rs. 0.90). NEST & AHUN closed trading at Rs. 1,309.80 and Rs..71.00 respectively.

Foreigners ended the day as net buyers with foreign purchases worth of Rs. 106.51 million against foreign sales worth of Rs. 77.22 million resulting in a net inflow of Rs. 29.28 million.