Sri Lanka bourse edges up to 13-week high; rupee up

LBT: Market Tuesday
08 JANUARY 2013 16:50 WRITTEN BY THARANGA SENARATNE

Jan 08, 2013 (LBT) - The All Share Price Index gained 5.84 points to close at 5,751.93 (0.1%) while the S&P SL20 Index gained 3.93 points to close at 3,123.97 (0.1%).Total turnover for the day stood at LKR1,273.6 mn (USD9,978.2 k) vs. 12-months average daily turnover of LKR1,031.6 mn (USD8,081.7 k), whilst the volume traded for the day was 17,599 k against the 12-months average daily volume of 40,543 k.Top contributory counters towards the turnover for the day were, Asiri Central Hospital LKR562.5 mn (USD4,407.0 k, 9.7%), Commercial Bank of Ceylon LKR254.2 mn (USD1,991.1 k, 0%), John Keells Holdings LKR155.1 mn (USD1,214.8 k, 0.7%), Lanka Orix Leasing Company LKR88.5 mn (USD693.5 k, 7.3%) and Hatton National Bank LKR42.1 mn (USD330.2k, 0.2%).

The Colombo bourse ended the day on a positive note with the ASI edging up marginally after witnessing a sharp dip during midday. The day’s turn over that surpassed LKR1.2 bn was primarily lifted up by nine crossings adding to circa 74%, whilst, retail participation was also evident on selected counters. A huge block of over 2.2 mn shares of Asiri central Hospital got transferred at LKR250.0, as the Asiri Hospital Holdings bought 10.07% from Actis Investments Holdings that solely contributed circa 44% to the total turnover. In addition, over 2.1mn shares of Commercial bank of Ceylon changed hands at LKR104.50 in 5 crossings, whilst over 270k shares of John Keells Holdings were transferred at LKR224.50. Further, Hatton National Bank witnessed a crossing of over 177k shares at LKR147.50 rupees, whilst 1mn shares of Lanka Orix Leasing Company got transferred at LKR60. Since the activities at the Colombo bourse were predominantly led by the institutional investors, the aforementioned counters that reported crossings, secured places in the top contributors list.

Foreign purchases amounted to LKR476.0 mn (USD3,729.4 k), whilst foreign sales amounted to LKR885.3 mn (USD6,936.2 k). This resulted in a net foreign outflow of LKR409.3 mn being recorded at the end of the day’s trading. Market capitalization stood at LKR 2,209.4 bn. YTD performance is 1.9%..
http://lbt.lk/stock-market/movement/3396-lbt-market-tuesday

COLOMBO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan stocks ended slightly firmer at a 13-week high on Tuesday, led by diversified shares, while block deals in large caps pushed the day's turnover even as foreign investors left what they see as an overbought market.

The main share index closed 0.1 percent, or 5.84 points up, at 5,751.93, its highest close since Oct. 10.

The index has risen 4.27 percent in the last nine sessions, which analysts have attributed to declining yields in government securities after the central bank cut its policy rates last month.

'The market has gone up only on some select blue chips,' said a broker who declined to be identified.

'We still expect the market to go up with other stocks which local retailers trade heavily. They have not risen sharply and with interest rates coming down, I think the market will go up further.'

The gains have pushed the market to an over-bought region with the 14-day relative strength index shooting up to 74.234 on Tuesday, well above the upper neutral range of 70.

Foreign investors were net sellers of 409.32 million rupees worth shares after being net buyers of a record 38.63 billion rupees worth of shares last year.

Turnover was 1.27 billion rupees ($9.97 million).

The rupee closed slightly higher at 127.20/30 to the dollar from Monday's close of 127.35/40 on exporter dollar sales, dealers said. ($1 = 127.4000 Sri Lanka rupees)

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez)

(ranga.sirilal@thomsonreuters.com)(+94-11-232-5540)

(Reuters Messaging: ranga.sirilal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
http://www.xe.com/news/2013/01/08/3151469.htm?c=1&t=

foreign investors left what they see as an overbought market