Sri Lankan shares end higher; investors pick diversified stocks

Reuters: Sri Lankan stocks ended firmer on Friday, moving further away from a near 10-month low, as investors picked up beaten down shares, including beverages and diversified counters.

Political instability and a rise in interest rates however capped gains, brokers said.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.12 percent higher at 6,137.70, further moving away from its lowest close since April 4 hit on Wednesday. The index however fell 0.52 percent on week, its second straight weekly fall.

Market heavyweight John Keells Holdings Plc rose 1.52 percent, a day after it posted a 32 percent rise in December-quarter profit.

Shares in Sri Lanka Telecom Plc rose 2.04 percent.

"There was a bit of bounceback because the market has fallen sharply and there is no specific reason as the situation has not changed for the market to move up," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

Foreign investors net bought 7.28 million rupees (about $48,533) worth of equities on Friday, but they have net sold 1.64 billion rupees worth shares so far this year.

Turnover stood at 554.2 million rupees. 

($1 = 150.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)

Colombo Stock Exchange Market Review – 27th Jan 2017

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Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 27-Jan-2017

Colombo equities concluded the week on a positive note amid the investor interest in John Keells Holdings which saw a strong third quarter (+32%YoY) and declared an interim dividend of LKR 2.00 per share.

All Share index bagged 7.65 index points or 0.12% to end at 6,137.70 while 20-scrip S&P SL index bagged 11.77 index points or 0.34% to close at 3,491.16.

Along with JKH (LKR 140.00, +1.5%), price gains in Dilmah Ceylon (LKR 675.00, +10.6%), Sri Lanka Telecom (LKR 35.00, +2.0%) and Ceylon Cold Stores (LKR 730.00, +0.6%) contributed positively to the index performance.

Daily market turnover was LKR 555mn. John Keells Holdings was the top contributor to the turnover with LKR 177mn followed by Teejay Lanka (LKR 117mn), Tokyo Cement (LKR 55mn) and Commercial Bank (LKR 54mn) respectively.

Negotiated deals were recorded in Teejay Lanka (1.8mn shares at LKR 41.00), Commercial Bank (0.4mn shares ay LKR 142.00) and Adam Investments (40mn shares at LKR 1.00). Aggregate value of crossings accounted for 30% of the turnover.

Gainers offset the losers 65 to 57 while 173 remained unchanged. High investor activity was seen in Teejay Lanka as stock dipped by 2.2% to LKR 41.00 due to earnings drop of 30%YoY in latest quarter results. Further John Keells Holdings, Melstacorp and Ceylon Grain Elevators were among the heavily traded counters.

Foreign investors were net buyers with a net foreign inflow of LKR 7mn. Net foreign inflows were seen in Tokyo Cement (LKR 49mn), Teejay Lanka (LKR 27mn), Hemas Holdings (LKR 7mn) while net foreign outflow was mainly seen in Commercial Bank (LKR 52mn). Foreign participation was 60%.
Source: LSL