Colombo Stock Exchange Market Review – 2nd Feb 2017

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Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 02-Feb-2017

Colombo bourse regained lost grounds on Thursday with positive investor sentiments. All Share index bagged 9.49 index points or 0.15% to end at 6,139.56 while S&P SL20 index advanced by 13.44 index points or 0.38% to close at 3,504.35.

Price appreciations in Nestle (closed at LKR 1998.40, +2.5%), Commercial Bank (closed at LKR 145.70, +1.8%) and Dialog Axiata (closed at LKR 10.80, +1.9%) contributed positively to the index performance.

Daily market turnover crossed LKR 1bn supported by activity in selected high caps. Negotiated deals were recorded in Hemas Holdings (2.8mn shares at LKR 104.00), Tokyo Cement (0.5mn shares at LKR 59.00) and Hatton National Bank (0.1mn shares at LKR 222.50).

However, Melstacorp was top the contributor to the turnover with LKR 560mn followed by Hemas Holdings (LKR 292mn), Sampath Bank (LKR 45mn) and Tokyo Cement (LKR 39mn) respectively.

Despite the index gain, losers outweighed the gainers 63 to 50 while 77 stocks remained unchanged. High investor participation was seen in Teejay Lanka and stock continued to decrease as it closed at LKR 39.80 with a loss of 1.2%. Ceylon Grain Elevators, Melstacorp and Lanka IOC were among heavily traded counters.

Foreign investors were net buyers with a net foreign inflow of LKR 27mn. Net foreign inflows were mainly seen in Sampath Bank (LKR 35mn), Melstacorp (LKR 13mn), Tokyo Cement non-voting (LKR 12mn) while net foreign outflow was mainly seen in Hatton National Bank (LKR 23mn). Foreign participation accounted for 85% of the turnover.

Source: LSL

Sri Lankan shares edge up as investors buy battered blue chips

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares closed slightly higher on Thursday, snapping two straight sessions of falls, as investors picked up battered blue chips while net foreign buying also boosted sentiment.

Investors await clarity on interest rates from the central bank's first monetary policy in 2017 scheduled on Tuesday.

The Colombo stock index ended up 0.15 percent at 6,139.56, while turnover was 1.09 billion rupees ($7.26 million), higher than this year's daily average of 645 million rupees.

"People are looking at cheap stocks and collecting," said Reshan Kurukulasuriya, chief operating officer, Richard Pieris Securities (Pvt) Ltd. "Investors collect stocks at these levels when they see a stock is attractive."

Foreign investors, who have been net sellers of 1.62 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year, net bought 27.1 million rupees worth of equities on Thursday.

Shares of Nestle Lanka Plc rose 2.48 percent, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc, the country's biggest listed lender, climbed 1.82 percent, and conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc gained 0.43 percent.

Sri Lankan shares have been on a declining trend recently due to political uncertainty arising from a decision by the ruling coalition parties to contest local polls separately and on worries over a rise in market interest rates with yields on 91-day treasury bills hitting near four-year highs this week. 

($1 = 150.2000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Shihar Aneez and Subhranshu Sahu)