Notable price appreciations of Palm oil-linked stocks

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

In the course of CSE trading yesterday, palm oil- related stocks, especially those of Watawala Plantations and Agalawatta plantations, recorded notable price appreciations, market analysts said.

Consequently, both indices moved upwards. The All- Share Price Index went up by 52.74 points while S and P SL20 rose by 11.69 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 1.4 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Hela Apparel, which crossed 5 million shares to the tune of Rs 26.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 5.30, HNB 150,000 shares crossed for Rs 24 million and its shares traded at Rs 160, Hemas Holdings 280,000 shares crossed for Rs 21.7 million; its shares fetched Rs 77.50 and Dialog 2 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 21.6 million and its shares sold at Rs 10.80.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; LOLC Finance Rs 88.5 million (15.2 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 82 million (14.7 million shares traded), LMF Rs 73.5 million (2.6 million shares traded), Pan Asia Rs 55.8 million (2.7 million shares traded), Watawala Plantations Rs 48.3 million (558,000 shares traded), HNB Rs 46.7 million (292,000 shares traded) and Kotagala Plantations Rs 37.8 million (5.7 million shares traded). During the day 91.5 million share volumes changed hands in 17300 transactions.

It is said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Lanka Walltiles, Lanka IOC and HNB. Mixed interest was observed in Browns Investments, LOLC Finance and Union Assurance, while retail interest was noted in Amana Bank, Softlogic Capital and Marawila Resorts.

The Food, Beverage & Tobacco sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments and Lanka Milk Foods) while the sector index gained. The share price of Browns Investments increased. The share price of Lanka Milk Foods recorded a loss of 60 cents to drop to Rs. 27.40.

The Diversified Financials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to LOLC Finance) while the sector index increased by 0.25 percent. The share price of LOLC Finance gained 10 cents to reach Rs. 5.70.

Yesterday, the rupee opened at Rs 306.50/60 to the US dollar in the spot forex market, stronger from Rs 306.95/307.10 on the previous day, dealers said, while bond yields were quiet ahead of the auction.