Shares close at 1-month low in thin trade

Reuters: shares ended slightly weaker on Thursday, posting their lowest close in a month, as investors awaited next month’s national budget and a flurry of corporate results.

The benchmark index of the Colombo Stock Exchange ended 0.03% or 2.03 points lower at 6,442.36, its lowest close since 20 September, in thin trading.

“Investors are waiting to see the outcome of the budget and quarterly results,” said Atchuthan Srirangan, a senior research analyst with First Capital Equities Ltd.

“Market will move sideways until the budget,” he said.

Stockbrokers said the market was digesting political concerns over the resignation of the head of Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption body on Monday, a few days after President Maithripala Sirisena implied that the agency was favouring the rival party of his prime minister.

This is likely to delay one of the promises of Sirisena’s coalition government to eliminate corruption and could hurt business confidence, analysts said.

Turnover stood at Rs. 365.03 million ($ 2.50 million), well below this year’s daily average of around Rs. 739.4 million.

Foreign investors, who have sold a net Rs. 2.06 billion worth of shares so far this year, bought a net Rs. 39.1 million worth equities on Thursday.

Top conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc ended 0.66% weaker while Cargills (Ceylon) Plc fell 4.61%.

Sri Lanka’s quarterly earnings season started last week but the bulk of locally listed firms will not report until late October or early November.