HATTON NATIONAL BANK & JOHN KEELS HOLDINGS DOMINATE THE COLOMBO STOCK EXCHANGE

                                       DAILY MARKET REVIEW

25/03/2010 – Colombo Stock Exchange reported gains today after several trading days. This was expected by us in last couple of days as well & we clearly reported this situation in our Daily Market Review reports.

Many pundits were against the previous Governments decision for not investing in the equity market through Govt funds like E.P.F. , E.T.F., N.S.B., SLIC etc. in few years back. However when the present Government has decided to invest in the equity market in large scale [This was confirmed by the Central bank Governor Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal during last week] nobody is there to welcome them. This is a sad situation when you look at the Colombo Stock Exchange as a small scale/medium scale investor.

ASI was up by 7.71 points to close at 3730.43 & Milanka price index was up by 16.45 points to close at 4337.05.

Turnover for the day was massive Rs 5.7 b.n. fueled by the sale of 25.8 m.n. shares or 13.6% of Hatton National Bank by the Galleon International Fund & Monroe Financial Capital of California. The buyers were Government funds such as Sri lanka Insurance Corporation, Bank of Ceylon, National Savings Bank, & Employees Provident Fund. The Government now owns nearly 25 % stake in Sri lanka’s largest private commercial bank.

Due to this sale the net foreign selling was around Rs 4.7 b.n. Foreigners bought shares worth of Rs 465 m.n. & sold Rs 5.2 b.n. worth of shares.

There were 59 gainers as against 63 losers today.

Diversified sector saw an improvement of 1.66 % as a result of the price appreciation of the Blue chip Company John Keels Holdings. JKH was up by Rs 7.00 to close at Rs 178.00, followed by the Trading sector. Investment trust sector was the worst performing sector with a negative growth of 3.31% due to the price decline of Environmental Resources Investment Company.

DIVIDEND ANNOUNCEMENT

COMPANY	TRADING PRICE	DIVIDEND RATE	XD DATE	DIVIDEND YIELD
Nestle Lanka	Rs 460.00	Rs 10.00	07/04/2010	1.96%
Nestle Lanka	Rs 460.00	Rs 11.00	14/06/2010	2.15 %

 TOP FIVE GAINERS FOR THE DAY                                                TOP FIVE LOSERS FOR THE DAY

 HIGHEST VOLUMES TRADED FOR THE DAY

   CROSSINGS FOR THE DAY

 CLOSER LOOK

•  As we mentioned in our previous daily reports Colombo Market was up today after a period of eight trading days.
• We strongly believe that the Government's decision to invest in the Colombo Stock Exchange through its funds EPF,ETF,NSB,SLIC etc, is a positive one for the country as well as for the investment community. 
• As we mentioned yesterday most of Blue chip companies have buyers @ current market prices. This was evident if you closely analyse  today's crossings list which is mentioned above.
• John Keels Holdings was the super performer today.Country's most respected blue chip company was up by Rs 7.00 to close at Rs 178.00
• We can expect market to record gains in the coming weeks in narrow range due to the Parliament election  & new year celebrations.  
• Large parcels of Distilleries company traded @ Rs 120 today & yesterday. We can expect a price increase in this share in a medium to short term. 
• Sri lanka Government through its investment funds increased stake in Sri lanka's largest private sector commercial bank up to 25%