The Colombo stock market closed weaker yesterday but net foreign inflows continue to be robust topping the Rs. 16 billion mark yesterday.
The addition of a fresh billion rupees comes after the Bourse crossed the Rs. 15 billion year-to-date net inflow on Thursday. The market saw net foreign buying of Rs. 213 million yesterday, marking the 23rd straight session of net inflow. Foreign institutional investors sought after Commercial Bank and Sampath Bank shares.
Making Monday’s upturn short-lived, local investor sentiments were weak as the ASI dipped by 37 points and the S&P SL 20 Index lower by 11 points. Turnover was Rs. 750.6 million.
Softlogic Stockbrokers said the Bourse depicted a rather stagnating pattern where the early uptrend in the benchmark index failed to sustain as it fluctuated between marginal gains and losses during mid-day. The key dividend players which saw considerable rallying recently; Ceylon Tobacco Company (-1.3%) and Chevron Lubricants Lanka (-5.2%) weighed negatively on the indices outweighing gains in John Keells Holdings, Lanka Orix Leasing Company and Hemas Holdings.
Investor focus stayed in John Keells Holdings depicting strong on-board activity weighing largely on the selling side while off-board activity highlighted a block of 126,000 shares at Rs. 275. The counter closed with a gain of 0.8%. United Motors Lanka added a block of one million shares to the crossings board at Rs. 119 each, however on-board participation remained insignificant.
Sampath Bank and Commercial Bank continued to gather focus with their strong valuation status as they dipped 0.1% and 0.3% during the day’s trading enabling opportunity for further accumulation.
The former saw a block of around 231,000 shares being transacted on-board at Rs. 217, while the latter encountered significant buying interest as several mid-sized blocks traded between Rs. 119.5 and Rs. 121.5.
The BFI and diversified sectors collectively added 61% to turnover. Hemas Holdings sustained interest with a few large blocks being picked between Rs. 36.5 and Rs. 37 while renewed interest in Aitken Spence was noted as two blocks totalling c. 170,500 shares were collected on-board at Rs. 135. Some renewed interest was also observed in Lanka Orix Leasing Company.
Selected retail favourites gathered attention amidst the consolidation phase of the Bourse. Interest continued in Kelsey Developments and Nation Lanka Finance while Blue Diamond [Non-Voting] and FLC Holdings also saw notable activity.
source - www.ft.lk
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