Stock market falls for 8th straight session in thin trade

Reuters: Shares fell for an eighth straight session on Thursday, closing at their lowest in more than eight months, in typical holiday-thinned trade as investors stayed away ahead of the Christmas weekend.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.28% weaker at 6,209.65, its lowest close since 6 April. The Bourse has fallen 2% in the last eight straight sessions through Thursday.



Turnover slumped to a near four-week low of Rs. 114.5 million (about $ 764,608), less than a sixth of this year’s daily average of Rs. 740.6 million.

“A lot of people are out of office because of holiday season. Foreign trading is also very slow because of the year-end holidays in other markets as well. We see the same sentiment prevailing until the new year,” said Hussain Gany, deputy CEO at Softlogic Stockbrokers.

Foreign investors bought a net Rs. 25.3 million worth of shares on Thursday, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to Rs. 625.7 million into equities.

Banking and telecommunications sectors saw market activity, with trading in top mobile phone operator Dialog Axiata accounting for 24% of the day’s turnover.

Shares in large cap Ceylon Tobacco Company lost 2.4% in lacklustre trade, while top private lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon fell 1.2% to drag down the overall index.