By Quintus Perera – Asian Tribune
Acuity – the Stock-brokering arm of HNB and DFCC in their weekly review indicated that Colombo bourse declined for yet another week as cautious investors await positive news from the macro front. Market was up marginally on Tuesday following a public holiday on Monday, however fell during the remaining 3 trading days. Comparing Week on Week (WoW) the two indices experienced mixed fortunes as the All Share Price Index (ASPI) declined by 0.8% to close the week at 1748.1 points, while the Milanka Price Index (MPI) gained 1.1% to stand at 1866.8 points.
With a turnover of Rs.71.8 million, Ceylinco Insurance maintained its position as the highest contributor towards weekly turnover for the 2nd consecutive week. Approximately 0.4 million shares of Ceylinco Insurance traded this week with the share price showing a slight 0.7% drop, closing the week at Rs.173.50 per share. During the week Ceylinco share traded between a wide range of Rs.162.00 and Rs.174.00 per share.
JKH witnessed notable quantities changing hands this week, with the major part of Rs.44.6 million coming on Thursday. The counter was the second highest contributor towards the weekly turnover amounting to Rs.63.2 million, while approximately 1.0 million JKH shares traded for the week. JKH share during the 4 days of trading fluctuated between a price range of Rs.60 and Rs.67.25 and closed the week at Rs.65.50, up 10.1% WoW.
The speculative stock Lanka Cement continued to attract investor interest emerging as the third largest contributor for this week’s activity with a turnover of Rs.41.5 million. During the week 2.9 million shares of Lanka Cement traded within a price band of Rs.13.50 and Rs.14.75 per share. The stock on Friday closed at Rs.14, up by a marginal 1.8% compared to last week’s closing level.
Renewed interest was witnessed on Coco Lanka during the week as company released its quarterly financials for the 3rd quarter showing a sharp increase in earnings. During the week 1.2 million Coco Lanka shares traded generating a turnover of Rs.26.4 million towards the week’s turnover. The Coco Lanka share price however declined WoW by 2.4% to Rs.20.00 per share after peaking at Rs.23.75 for the week.
During the four-day trading week total market turnover stood at Rs.343.3 million showing a modest 15.8% decline compared to Rs.407.8 million posted last week. Meanwhile the average daily turnover amounted to Rs.85.83 million for the week
Foreign participation of total activity improved slightly during the week to 14.1% compared to last week’s 12.4%. Foreign investors were net buyers for the week amounting to Rs.53.50 million. Foreign purchases for the week stood at Rs.75.10 million while foreign sales amounted to Rs.21.6 million during the week.
The highest traded stocks during the week were Lanka Cement, Ceylinco Seylan, Coco Lanka and Vallibel.
In their point of view Acuity indicated that as expected by them indices remained volatile with activity levels declining compared to last week. During the week market fell marginally by 0.8% compared to the previous week’s closing level.
They expect the indices to fluctuate within a narrow band as investors are likely to stick to a ‘Wait and See’ approach over the coming week. Meanwhile authorities cut interest rates twice within a short period of time in order to improve liquidity and fuel growth in the economy. Going forward they do not rule out the possibilities of more rate cuts in the back of sliding inflation, thus they advise investors to keep a close eye on the interest rate regime as lower rates could give a boost to equities.
- Asian Tribune -
Comments
Post new comment