Market continued to slide further south even after the final tranche of the IMF “stand by facility” was dispersed to Sri Lanka last week. The rupee strengthened further against the greenback in today’s trading. The bourse continues to lack buying interest across the board amidst rising interest rates.
ASI slid 6.45 points (0.13%) to close at 4,881.77, MPI lost 23.70 points (0.55%) to close at 4,285.89 and the newly constructed S&P index lost 6.54 points (0.24%) to close at 2,761.90. Turnover was Rs. 322 million.
Most active counters for the day were Laugfs Gas non-voting, HVA Foods and Free Lanka Capital Holdings. Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings with Rs. 122 million, Central Finance with Rs. 78 million and Carson Cumberbatch with Rs. 14 million.
Notable gainers for the day were Abans up by 6% to close at Rs. 101, Lanka Alumium up by 4.88% to close at Rs. 25.80 and Richard Pieris up by 3% to close at Rs. 6.80. Meanwhile, notable losers were Laugfs Gas non-voting down by 18.52% to close at Rs. 13.20 and Laugfs Gas voting down by 8.22% to close at Rs. 20.10 upon today being its XD date and followed by Ceylon Grain Elevators down by 4% to close at Rs. 46.10.
Foreign participation was 33.5% of market turnover and foreigners were net buyers of Rs. 177.9 million worth of shares.
http://www.nation.lk/edition/biz-news/item/8596-bourse-continued-to-slide.html