A nine-day consecutive winning streak ended yesterday at the Colombo stock market as it closed negative though turnover remained over Rs. 1 billion amidst continued foreign selling.
Acuity Stockbrokers said the bourse ended on a negative note as the ASPI decreased by 0.19% or 9.58 points to close at 5,153.77 points, while the S&P SL20 Index also decreased by 0.59% or 13.53 points to close at 2,277.32.
Turnover decreased by 6.4% relative to last Friday to amount to Rs. 1.19 billion while crossings for the day amounted to 26.6% of the day’s total turnover.
Foreign investors recorded a net outflow of Rs. 0.37 billion over the day compared to a net outflow of Rs. 0.16 billion recorded last Friday.
First Capital said the bourse ended in the negative territory after a nine-day continuous rally while the market surpassed year to date foreign outflow of Rs. 20 billion.
“The market experienced a downtrend since the beginning of the session and hit its intraday low of 5,143 during mid-day, thereafter moved upwards and experienced a slight dip before the final 30 minutes of trading. Later index recorded an uptrend once again, and closed at 5,154 losing 10 points,” First Capital said.
It said the ASPI was dragged down predominantly due to the dip in prices of John Keells Holdings and Teejay Lanka. Parcel trades boosted the turnover, contributing 27% of the total.
NDB Securities said the ASPI closed in red as a result of price losses in counters such as John Keells Holdings, Teejay Lanka and Asian Hotels & Properties. A similar behaviour was witnessed in the S&P SL20.
High net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Commercial Bank, John Keells Holdings and Nations Trust Bank. Mixed interest was observed in Access Engineering, Dialog Axiata and Sampath Bank whilst retail interest was noted in Royal Ceramics and First Capital Holdings.
Furthermore, foreigners remained active closing as net sellers. Total foreign sales accounted for 40.7% of the turnover.
The Banking sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Nations Trust Bank, Commercial Bank and Hatton National Bank) whilst the sector index edged down by 0.02%. The share price of Nations Trust Bank increased by Rs. 1.30 (2.06%) to close at Rs. 64.30 while the share price of Commercial Bank moved up by Rs. 0.30 (0.39%) to close at Rs. 77.00. Furthermore, the share price of Hatton National Bank declined by Rs. 0.40 (0.35%) to close at Rs. 114.10.
Capital Goods sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings and Access Engineering) whilst the sector index decreased by 1.09%. The share price of John Keells Holdings lost Rs. 3.20 (2.50%) to close at Rs. 125.00 while the share price of Access Engineering recorded a gain of Rs. 0.20 (1.08%) to close at Rs. 18.70.
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