Colombo Stock market began trading for the week on Tuesday on a positive note where benchmark index gained 43.18 points (+0.71%) and S&P SL 20 Index ended advanced by 26.93 points (+0.79%). Market turnover was LKR 408mn. John Keells Holdings, the heavily traded stock with LKR 92mn, Chevron Lubricants with LKR 38mn and Ceylinco Insurance with LKR 34mn were the top contributors to the daily turnover. Meanwhile, Chilaw Finance, Textured Jersey and Colombo Land & Development were among the heavily traded stocks during the day. Foreign participation for the day was 29.7% and foreign investors were net buyers with a net foreign inflow of LKR 78mn.
Market ended in mixed note on Wednesday as the Central Bank held monetary policy rates stable. However, according to the primary Treasury bill auction held today the Central Bank only accepted 365day maturity treasury bills and the yield dropped by 3 bps to 10.56%. Benchmark All Share Index fell marginally by 5.10 points (+0.08%) and S&P SL 20 Index gained 12.02 points (0.34%). Market turnover was LKR 292mn. Index heavy John Keells Holdings, the heavily traded stock with LKR 66mn, Dialog Axiata with LKR 40mn and Bukit Darah with 34mn were the top contributors to the market turnover. Meanwhile, First Capital Holdings, Kegalle Plantations and Textured Jersey were among the mostly traded stocks for the day. Foreign participation for the day was 22.4% and foreign investors ended as net buyers with a net inflow of LKR 107mn.
Colombo Bourse lost almost LKR 15bn market cap in Thursday trading as the benchmark ASI slumped by 40.98 points (-0.67%) and S&P SL 20 Index lost 24.63 points (-0.71%). Daily market turnover was LKR 290mn. John Keells Holdings (LKR 60mn) was the top contributor to the market turnover followed by Dialog Axiata with LKR 40mn and Ceylinco Insurance – non voting with LKR 22mn. Chilaw Finance, Textured Jersey and Sanasa Development Bank were the mostly traded stocks during the day. Foreign participation for the day was low at 9% of the total market activity. At the end of the day foreign investors were net buyers with a net inflow of LKR 23mn.
Market closed the weekly operations on Friday with positive returns on both market indices. ASI closed at 6,051.77 with a gain of 13.61 basis points (+0.23%) and S&P SL 20 Index closed at 3,427.87 with a gain of 4.39 basis points (+0.13%). Price appreciations in large cap stocks such as Dialog Axiata by 2.3%, Ceylinco Insurance by 5.0% and
Daily market turnover was LKR 404mn. Asiri Hospitals with LKR 70mn, Sampath Bank with LKR 51mn and LIOC with LKR 26mn were the top contributors to the market turnover. Two off-the-floor deals were recorded in Asiri Hospitals and Sampath Bank where 5.0mn shares and 0.25mn shares changed hands at a price of LKR 14.00 per share and LKR 202.00 per share respectively.
Textured Jersey, the heavily traded stock today reached 52 week high of LKR 13.10, up by 4%. Further Access Engineering, Chilaw Finance and Sanasa Development Bank were traded heavily during the day.
Foreign participation for the day was 20% of the total market activity and at the end of the day foreign investors were net buyers with LKR 67mn net inflow. Top net foreign buying was seen in stocks such as Sampath Bank, Access Engineering and Textured Jersey while net selling was seen in John Keells Holdings and Aitken Spence Holdings.
Cash map closed at 56.9%.
Stock market indices managed to close above the last week ending levels but witnessed lackluster trading patterns. Average daily turnover and volume declined by 37%WoW and 23%WoW respectively. However foreign investors remained as net buyers for the week with a marginal total net inflow of LKR 52mn which is a 94% drop compared to the last week.