Friday, 25 October 2013 03:48
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The Colombo stock market yesterday snapped its three-day losing streak and closed positive, led mainly by gains in John Keells Holdings along with its Rights.
The benchmark ASI depicted an upward trend backed by gains in John Keells Holdings (+3.29%), Finlays Colombo (+18.71%), Sri Lanka Telecom (+2.06%) and Ceylinco Insurance (+3.92%) and closed at 5936.40 gaining 35 points. The S&PSL20 too journeyed on a similar path and ended with a gain of 18 points, according to Softlogic Stockbrokers.
Year-to-date, ASI is up 5.2% and S&P SL 20 Index has improved by 5.8%.
Market turnover was Rs. 517 million. Foreign participation for the day was 14% whilst recording a net inflow of Rs. 22mn. Net inflows were seen in Dialog Axiata (Rs. 42mn) and John Keells Holdings (Rs. 12mn), Lanka Securities said. Year-to-date net foreign inflows amounted to Rs. 22.81 billion.
Softlogic Stockbrokers said JKH continued to attract investor interest as it was heavily active during the day and the counter was among the top turnover slot and denoted a significant price appreciation of 3.29%. John keels Holdings (Rights) witnessed considerable on-board interest and closed at Rs. 67.1 with a sizeable gain of 31.31%.
National Development Bank and Royal Ceramics Lanka also saw some interest and closed at Rs. 153.0and Rs. 90.1 respectively.
Renewed off board interest was seen in Dialog Axiata and Union Bank of Colombo where the former recorded a single crossing of 4.6 million shares at Rs. 8.9 and the latter crossed a single block of two million shares which changed hands at Rs. 17.0. Dialog Axiata denoted notable on board interest and was within the top turnover slot supported by two transactions accumulating to 1.1 million shares and ended at Rs. 8.9 (+1.14%). UBC depicted significant investor interest and topped the on board turnover with many medium size blocks. The counter settled at Rs. 18.6 with a notable intra-day gain of 14.81%.
Lanka Securities said cash map closed at 53% and it added that touchwood Investments, Agstar Fertilizer and HVA Foods were also among the mostly traded stocks during the day.
First Capital Equities said given the fact that most investors would now agree that the potential for short term trading opportunities are markedly limited, selecting medium to longer term investments would depend on a number of parameters, most importantly the strength of the top line and its sustainability.
“While we do not rule out the importance of earnings as a strong indicator of growth, it is highly important to determine the source of profits, whether a result of top line growth or an increase in other income or a dramatic cut in costs that could have a negative impact on future productivity. Of perhaps even more significance is the sustainability of such earnings. In this respect, while we advise investors to seek quality, both in terms of the top line and the bottom line, we accentuate the need to select stocks that may not only pass the quality test in terms of fundamentals but are also sufficiently liquid,” First Capital Equities added.
