OCC-govt. agreement imparts dynamism to share market

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

Institutional and retail participation in the CSE was quite satisfactory yesterday because they had been enthused by the finalization of the agreement between the Official Credit Committee (OCC) and the Sri Lankan government, which cleared the pathway for the IMF first review, market analysts said.

The stock market managed to close on the up, influenced by positive news on the external debt restructuring though activity levels were moderate, market analysts said.

Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. All Share Price Index went up by 95 points and S and P SL20 rose by 43.4 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.9 billion with three crossings. Those crossings were reported in HNB, which crossed 490,000 shares to the tune of Rs 79.8 million; its shares traded at Rs 163, JKH 150,000 shares crossed for Rs 28.2 million; its shares traded at Rs 188 and Chevron Lubricants 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 26.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 88.40.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; JKH Rs 772 million (four million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 216 million (1.6 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 106.4 million (22 million shares traded), NTB Rs 82.8 million (824,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 48.5 million (713,000 shares traded), HNB Rs 47.9 million (290,000 shares traded) and Lanka IOC Rs 34.3 million (336,000 shares traded). During the day 57.8 million share volumes changed hands in 9000 transactions.

It is said that high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Hayleys Fabric, JKH, and Windforce. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Sampath Bank and Lanka Milk Foods, while retail interest was noted in Industrial Asphalts, Browns Investments and Nation Lanka Finance.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to JKH) while the sector index edged down by 0.08 percent. The share price of JKH lost 75 cents to settle at Rs. 186.50.

The Banking sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to HNB), while the sector index increased significantly.

Yesterday the rupee opened at Rs 328.30/60 to the US dollar from Rs 329.25/50 the previous day, dealers said.

Bond yields were stable.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2026 was quoted at 14.10/20 percent from 14.10/25 percent .A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 was quoted at 14.30/40 percent from 14.15/30 percent. A bond maturing on 01.07.2028 was quoted at 14.30/45 percent from 14.30/40 percent.