Illiquid shares turn active, making the CSE come alive

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

The stock market yesterday kicked off on a negative note but later/ last session it turned positive due to illiquid shares/stocks in the market becoming active, market analysts said.JKH’s and a few banks’ stocks moved up after witnessing a dip owing to an improvement in investor sentiment during the latter part of the day.

Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 54.7 points while S and P SL20 rose by 1.22 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.22 billion with three crossings.

Those crossings were reported in Amana Bank, which crossed 14.5 million shares to the tune of Rs 33.3 million and its shares traded at Rs 2.30, Hayleys Fabrics 500,000 shares crossed for Rs 21.3 million; its shares traded at Rs 42.50 and DFCC Bank 250,000 shares crossed for Rs 20 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.

In the retail market top six companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Janashakthi Insurance Rs 120 million (2.2 million shares traded), Dipped Products Rs 116 million (3.5 million shares traded), Haycarb Rs 77.9 million (1 million shares traded), HNB Rs 57.5 million (295,000 shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 54.7 million (414,000 shares traded) and Cooperative Insurance Rs 48.5 million (15.9 million shares traded).During the day 82.8 million share volumes changed hands in 12177 transactions.

Yesterday the rupee opened stronger at Rs 299.90/300.10 to the US dollar, from Rs 300.70/90 the previous day, dealers said. Bond yields were steady.

A bond maturing on 15.12.2026 was quoted flat at 10.05/15 percent. A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 was quoted flat at 10.20/40 percent. A bond maturing on 15.03.2028 was quoted down at 10.55/65 percent from 10.55/70 percent. A bond maturing on 15.05.2030 was quoted flat at 11.55/70 percent. A bond maturing on 01.10.2032 was quoted up at 11.80/90 percent from 11.75/95 percent.