Upcoming holidays prove a dampener for share market

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

CSE trading activities started on a positive note yesterday but the momentum could not be sustained for long due to the oncoming long holidays and vacations market analysts said.

According to an analyst, the market started off on a positive trend, with retail favorites witnessing buying interest, but that tendency gradually diverted into selling pressures.

“Selling pressure was seen in the LOLC counter, as it was a top contributor, and it was gaining in trade but this trend eventually turned into selling pressures, the analyst said.

Amid those developments both indices reflected mixed reactions. The All- Share Price Index went down by 50.1 points and S and P SL20 rose by 30.1 points. Turnover stood at Rs 559 million without any crossings.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were Expolanka Holdings Rs 190 million (1.3 million shares traded), NDB Rs 40.6 million (920,000 shares traded), SLT Rs 26.1 million (288,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 25.2 million (494,000 shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 19.7 million (114,000 shares traded), NTB Rs 19.5 million (303,000 shares traded) and Softlogic Capital Rs 15.1 million (1.3 million shares traded). During the day 26.7 million share volumes changed hands in 10000 transactions.

Sri Lanka’s Treasury bond yields were down at open on Monday, dealers said. A 01.07.2025 bond was quoted at 29.40/55 per cent on Monday, down from 29.80/30.20 per cent on Friday. A 15.09.2027 bond was quoted at 27.40/50 per cent, down from 27.45/55 per cent on Friday.

Yesterday the Central Bank’s US dollar selling rate was Rs 334.20, while the buying rate was Rs 316.75.