Declining trend continues in bourse; investor sentiment low

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

The stock market continued on a downward path yesterday as investor sentiment showed no rebound. CSE indices indicated mixed reactions. The All Share Price Index went down by 4.7 points while S and P SL20 rose by 2 percent.

Turnover stood at Rs 589 million with two crossings. Those crossings were reported in Renuka City Hotel, which crossed 184,000 shares to the tune of Rs 61.7 million; its shares traded at Rs 335 and LB Finance 500,000 shares crossed for Rs 30.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 61.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; JKH Rs 106.3 million (595,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 51.6 million (768,000 shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 41.7 million (313,000 shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 28.3 million (286,000 shares traded), Capital Alliance Rs 20.4 million (482,000 shares traded), Associated Motor Finance Rs 15.4 million (770,000 shares traded) and Sunshine Holdings Rs 13.4 million (259,000 shares traded). During the day 18.5 million share volumes changed hands in 6000 transactions.

It is said that high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in JKH, Chevron Lubricants and Sampath Bank. Mixed interest was observed in Capital Alliance, Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings, while retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, Alumex and Cargills Bank.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to JKH), while the sector index lost 1.06 percent. The share price of JKH decreased by Rs. 2 to rest at Rs. 179.75.

The Materials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Chevron Lubricants), while the sector index decreased by 1.02 percent. The share price of Chevron Lubricants moved up by 60 cents to Rs. 94.

Yesterday the US dollar buying rate was Rs 314.98 and selling rate Rs 324.77.