Possibility of new corporate taxes having share investors worried

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

Investor sentiment at the CSE was characterized by a touch of gloom yesterday due to worries connected to the external debt restructuring exercise and the forthcoming budget. With regard to the latter, there was concern over the possibility of an increase or an introduction of new corporate taxes, market analysts said.

The stock market reverted to negative territory as investors were wary despite policy rate cuts by the Monetary Board. Consequently, both indices moved downwards.

The All Share Price Index went down by 55.83 points and S and P SL20 declined by 13.32 points. Turnover stood at Rs 611 million without any crossings. In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were JKH Rs 92.6 million (486,000 shares traded), HNB Rs 34.30 million (209,000 shares traded), SLT Rs 34.2 million (355,000 shares traded), TJ Lanka Rs 28.6 million (817,000 shares traded), CIC Holdings Rs 22.4 million (306,000 shares traded), Windforce Rs 21.9 million (1.15 million shares traded) and Access Engineering Rs 20.4 million (1 million shares traded). During the day 21.3 million share volumes changed hands in 8000 transactions.

It is said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in JKH and Piramal Glass. Mixed interest was observed in Sri Lanka Telecom, Capital Alliance and Asian Hotels & Properties, while retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, People’s Leasing & Finance and E-Channelling.

The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to JKH), while the sector index edged down by 0.12 percent. The share price of JKH increased by 50 cents to reach Rs 190.50.

The Diversified Financials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Capital Alliance), while the sector index decreased by 1.48%. The share price of Capital Alliance moved down by Rs 3 to Rs 69.80.

Sri Lanka Telecom, Asian Hotels & Properties and Sampath Bank were also included among the top turnover contributors. The share price of Sri Lanka Telecom gained Rs 11 to reach Rs 94. The share price of Asian Hotels & Properties recorded a gain of 90 cents to reach Rs 63. The share price of Sampath Bank declined by 40 cents to settle at Rs 67.Yesterday, the US dollar buying rate was Rs 318.28 and selling rate Rs 328.91.