News of Indian Finance Minister’s visit to SL brightens bourse

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

CSE trading was enveloped in some gloom in the early hours of yesterday but brightened up following news of an official visit to Sri Lanka by Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, market analysts said.

The All- Share Price Index went up by 141.12 points and S and P SL20 rose by 51.59 points. Turnover stood at Rs 788 million with a crossing in Melstacorp, which crossed 1.5 million shares to the tune of Rs 120 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.

The Lanka IOC share price also gained seven percent when the Indian Finance Minister’s visit was announced and the turnover is largely made up of the crossing on Melstacorp, which owns Distilleries. “Other than that, of course, the overall turnover is significantly low,” an analyst said.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Lanka IOC Rs 138 million (1.2 million shares traded), JKH Rs 87.9 million (457,000 shares traded), Ceylon Grain Elevators Rs 38.5 million (227,000 shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 32.8 million (6.4 million shares traded), Ceylinco Insurance Rs 29.5 million (36000 shares traded), Capital Alliance Rs 19.1 million (351,000 shares traded) and Sampath Bank Rs 18.8 million (287,000 shares traded).

Other than Lanka IOC which saw gains in mid-day trading, other gainers during morning trade included banking and diversified financial sector companies led by Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank, Central Finance and Hatton National Bank. “Month-end selling has died down, and we have seen some positivity on LIOC after their quarterly results came out, finance sources said.

The food, beverage and tobacco industry was contributing the most to turnover, followed by the capital goods sector.

It is said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in JKH, Dialog Axiata and Aitken Spence. Mixed interest was observed in Ceylon Grain Elevators, Lanka Milk Foods and Lanka IOC, while retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, People’s Leasing & Finance and LOLC Finance.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to JKH and Aitken Spence), while the sector index lost 0.26 percent. The share price of JKH decreased by 25 cents to settle at Rs. 192.25. The share price of Aitken Spence recorded a loss of Rs. 1.75 to settle at Rs. 128.

The Food, Beverage & Tobacco sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Ceylon Grain Elevators and Lanka Milk Foods) while the sector index edged up by 0.07 percent. The share price of Ceylon Grain Elevators moved up by Rs. 1.75 to reach Rs. 166. The share price of Lanka Milk Foods appreciated by Rs. 3.25 to hit Rs. 166.

Yesterday the US dollar buying rate was Rs 322.34 and selling rate Rs 332.63.