CSE continues bullish run

By Hiran H.Senewiratne 

The CSE  showed signs of resilience yet again, with the benchmark index recording sharp gains amid healthy turnover yesterday. The market remained bullish and there was acute demand for low value counter stocks, while  witnessing  marginally upward trend in top end counters, stock market analysts said. 

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers while recording low participation and  the market saw strong gains as investors were back collecting on cheap valuations ahead of the earnings season. Therefore, retail market activities were high and their contribution to the turnover nearly 90 percent, stock market analysts said. 

Both indices moved upwards, i.e., the All Share Price Index went up by 77.44 points and S and P SL20 was up by  29.53 points. The turnover stood at Rs. 3.05 billion with a single crossing. The crossing was reported from Tokyo Cement (Non Voting), which crossed 500,000 shares to the tune of Rs. 22.9 million; its shares traded at Rs. 45.80.

In the retail market, top five companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Expolanka Rs. 839.9 million (57.4 million shares traded), Tokyo Cement (Voting) Rs. 238.4 million (4.2 million shares traded), Tokyo Cement (Non Voting) Rs. 194 million (4.2 million shares traded), Hemas Holdings Rs. 192 million (2.7 million shares traded) and Hayleys Fabrics Rs. 125.2 million (five million shares traded). During the day  214 million share volumes changed hands in 28007 transactions. 

 It  is said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in John Keells Holdings and Expolanka Holdings. Mixed interest was observed in Tokyo Cement Company non-voting and voting, while retail interest was noted in Hayleys Fabric, Sampath Bank and Raigam Wayamba Salterns. Furthermore, foreigners remained active, closing as net sellers mainly due to foreign selling in JKH.

 In a special report, leading stockbroking firm, Asia Securities (Pvt) Ltd., exploring the impact of the COVID-19 resurgence in several regional emerging economies as well as developed economies, notes that equity markets have remained stable through the second wave of COVID-19.