Festive cheer prevails in Colombo Bourse
- Market cap up by Rs. 63 b in past three sessions; ASI tops 6,000-point level; Rs. 762 m deal on 1% stake of COMBank
Festive cheer at the Colombo Bourse which began last Thursday before Christmas is continuing with market’s overall value up by Rs. 63 billion whilst deals on 1% Commercial Bank stake for Rs. 762 million dominated yesterday’s trading.
An over 0.5% increase in All Share Index apart from heralding it above the psychological support level of 6,000 points saw market capitalisation gain by Rs. 12 billion yesterday increasing the total increase since Wednesday close to Rs. 63 billion.
Analysts linked the rebound to improved sentiments whilst others leaned on poor level of activity to suggest the market hasn’t turned around as yet.
This could be the case yesterday if one disregards the near Rs. 800 million worth deals on Commercial Bank, leaving only around Rs. 200 million for the rest of the market.
Overall Commercial Bank saw 7.955 million of its shares change hands for Rs. 795.5 million inclusive of four crossings involving 7.62 million shares at Rs. 100 each. Foreigners were sellers whilst a mix of institutional and individual investors had been on the buying side largely on account of upside on Sri Lanka’s largest private sector bank. Commercial Bank share however close up by only 40 cents from Friday’s finish.
Apart from deals on Commercial, United Motors and Environmental Resources were among the top contributor list. The share price of United Motors decreased by Rs 1.10 (0.77%) to close at Rs 145.00 while ERI’s share price closed flat at Rs 39.40.
NDB Stockbrokers said week started on a positive note, with both indices recording gains and APSI regaining the 6000 point mark. Amidst the lackluster retail activity, high net worth investor participation was witnessed as several crossings of Commercial Bank helped the turnover to recover from the low activity levels recorded in the initial part of trading.
Arrenga Capital said stocks managed to remain in the green for the third consecutive session amidst disruptions on investor participation due to the holiday atmosphere.
Except for the heavy deals that took place in Commercial Bank of Ceylon, market remained quite sluggish with the day seeing only 194 counters out of the 272 listed being traded, albeit managed to remain in the green throughout. Gains made by selected blue chips including Aitken Spence (+3.1%), Sri Lanka Telecom (+2.8%), Lanka Orix Leasing (+2.9%), John Keells Holdings (+0.8%) and Colombo Dockyard (+2.0%) assisted the indices to edge up as the ASPI yet again crossed over 6,000 mark, closing the day advancing by 0.54% at 6,015.09 points.
Arrenga also said gains were recorded by banking sector players including Pan Asia Banking Corporation (+1.6%), Seylan Bank [Non – Voting] (1.5%) and Hatton National Bank [Non – voting] (2.4%). Following the interim dividend announcement of Rs. 3.5 per share by National Development Bank, the counter saw its price appreciating by 3.7%.
Singer Sri Lanka and its related company Regnis (Lanka), both gathered considerable investor sentiments as they saw their prices appreciating by 3.8% and 3.1%, appearing among the top turnover list. Meanwhile, Singer Industries, another related company of Singer Sri Lanka, also saw its price climbing up by 2.4% at its close of Rs. 253.9.
Lanka Securities said retail investor interest was seen in counters such as HVA foods (Rs.37.00,-0.3%), Blue Diamonds – nonvoting (Rs.3.80,0%) and Panasian Power (Rs.4.20,+2.4%).
DNH Financial said with investors in a holiday mood, it expects the bourse to trade range bound however with an upward bias as the market approaches the year end.
“We recommend clients to clean their portfolios, maintain a selective approach and focus on stocks that are likely to benefit fully from the 2012 growth cycle. Consequently, we advise investors to focus more closely on fundamentals and sectors such as banking, industrials, construction, diversified and hotels, which are expected to benefit fully from the macro-economic upswing next year,” DNH added.
