The Colombo Stock Market is gaining more traction as it achieved a new record turnover of Rs. 9.14 billion on top of Rs. 7 billion on Wednesday.
The All Share Price Index gained by over 61 points or 0.87%, while the S&P SL20 index declined by over 10 points or 0.4%.
First Capital said the market renewed the 52-week high turnover driven by the retail optimism in Browns Investments (BIL), recording the eighth consecutive day in the green territory. BIL continued to lead the turnover for the session with a contribution of 44% aiding the Food and Beverage sector’s dominance.
BIL saw 616.2 million of its shares changing hands via 13,290 trades for Rs. 4 billion. The price closed at Rs. 6.80, up by Rs 1.10 or 19%.
“Index experienced a gradual uptrend since the beginning of the session,” First Capital stated, adding parcel trades boosted the turnover amounting to 18%.
NDB Securities said the ASPI closed in green as a result of price gains in counters such as BIL, LOLC Holdings and Sri Lanka Telecom.
It said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in BPPL Holdings and John Keells Holdings (JKH). Mixed interest was observed LOLC Holdings, BIL and Expolanka Holdings, whilst retail interest was noted in Brown and Company, Softlogic Capital and Lanka Orix Finance.
The Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments), whilst the sector index gained 1.84%.
The Household and Personal Products sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to BPPL Holdings), whilst the sector index increased by 2.87%. The share price of BPPL Holdings gained Rs. 0.70 (4.52%) to close at Rs. 16.20.
LOLC Holdings, Expolanka Holdings and JKH were also included amongst the top turnover contributors.
The share price of LOLC Holdings moved up by Rs. 8.40 (5.73%) to close at Rs. 155.10. The share price of Expolanka Holdings recorded a loss of Rs. 0.50 (1.59%) to close at Rs. 31.00. Furthermore, the share price of JKH declined by Rs. 1.30 (0.87%) closing at Rs. 148.50, whilst foreign holdings decreased by 1,190,507 shares.
Foreign selling persisted with a net outflow of Rs. 297 million, bringing the total in the New Year to Rs. 941.5 million.
Asia Securities said estimated net foreign buying topped in BIL at Rs. 35.6 million and net foreign selling topped in JKH at Rs. 176.8 million.
Capital Trust said while the current bullish trend definitely looks encouraging, market direction is likely to depend on the quality of corporate results that will start trickling in over the next few weeks. “Consequently, we advise investors to focus on quality stocks that are trading at discounts to their intrinsic value with a longer-term investment horizon,” it added.
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