Sri Lankan shares hit 1-wk closing high; beverages shares lead

Reuters: Sri Lankan stocks touched a one-week closing high on Tuesday, as investors picked up shares of beverages and telecom companies, brokers said.

The Colombo stock index finished 0.3 percent firmer at 6,590.50, its highest close since Oct. 16.

Shares of Ceylon Cold Store Plc climbed 4.1 percent, while Hatton National Bank Plc rose 0.3 percent and Ceylon Brewery Plc ended 13.8 percent firmer.

“Market looks positive and we can see some big investors looking for opportunities to buy, and that’s the reason we see mergers and acquisitions these days, which have pushed the turnover levels,” said Reshan Kurukulasuriya, chief operating officer of Richard Pieris Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

“Retail investors are waiting to see the direction from the corporate results and budget.”

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera will present the 2018 budget on Nov. 9.

Turnover stood at 743.5 million rupees ($4.84 million), below this year’s daily average of 937.4 million rupees.

Foreign investors net bought shares worth 275.4 million rupees on Tuesday, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to 19.4 billion rupees worth equities. 

($1 = 153.7500 Sri Lankan rupees) 

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

Sri Lanka new vehicle registrations down in September

ECONOMYNEXT - Registrations of new vehicles in Sri Lanka vehicles in Sri Lanka fell sharply in September 2017, with cars falling to the lowest since February, data analysed by an equities research house showed.

Car registrations fell to 2,472 units in September, after spiking to 3,372 units in August, amid speculation that import taxes will be brought down in the budget. Vehicle importers have been given discounts to sell cars.

Brand new cars fell from 1,279 units in August to 927 units in September, an analysis of Sri Lanka's vehicle registry data by JB Securities showed.

In 2015, when the central bank printed money to drive credit to unsustainable levels and the government gave a sharp salary hike to state workers, car sales were reaching 10,000 units a month.

Nissan's Datsun was most popular car in September selling 229 units, keeping its lead for the second month, while with Maruti/Suzuki Celerio was the second most popular car with 181 units registered in September.

Motor cycle sales remained strong at 28,154 down from 29,643 a month earlier.

Three wheelers were from 2,100 units in August to 1,944, but up from a February low of 903 units.

Total vehicle sales were down to 36,895, the lowest since February's 30,036.