Sri Lankan shares fell Friday, as investors took profits on selected counters, brokers said.
The All Share Price Index closed down 0.17 percent (5.39 points) to end at 3,115.34, while the Milan
ka Index of more liquid stocks lost 0.67 percent (23.46 points) to close at 3,504.34, according to provisional stock exchange data.Turnover was 491.3 million rupees.
"The market has taken a breather with the exception of a few stocks favored by retailers, while the others are going through some profit taking," Thakshila Hulangamuwa, vice president at stock brokering house Asha Phillip Securities said.
Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia closed at 7.75 rupees, down 25 cents on almost 1.1 million shares traded, while fixed line operator Sri Lankan Telecom closed at 47.50 rupees, up 50 cents.
Analysts and brokers have said a market correction is likely in the near future.
Lanka Cement closed flat at 22.35 with 1.1 million shares traded, and Touchwood Investments closed at 91.50 rupees, down 1.00.
Conglomerate John Keells Holdings closed at 153.75 rupees, up 75 cents, while index heavy Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka closed at 92.00 rupees, up 1.00.
Hatton National Bank closed at 173.00 rupees, up 1.00, and Commercial Bank of Ceylon closed at 180.00 rupees, down 1.50.
National Development Bank closed at 195.00 rupees, down 25 cents, and DFCC Bank closed at 153.00 rupees, up 50 cents.
Sri Lanka Market cap tops trillion
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The All Share Price Index (ASPI) made an impressive gain of 97.3 points to close the week at 3,115.3 points (+3.2%), whilst the Milanka Price Index also gained 109.3 points to close at 3,504.2 points (+3.2%). Indices gained mainly on the back of gains made in Dialog Telekom (+6.9% WoW), Sri Lanka Telecom (+5.6% WoW), Hatton National Bank (+3.3% WoW), National Development Bank (+2.4% WoW) and second liners led by; Lanka Milk Foods (27.9% WoW), Brown and Company (+27.9% WoW), LB Finance (+24.0% WoW) and The Finance Company (+20.5% WoW).
The Colombo Bourse marked another milestone during the week surpassing LKR1 trillion in terms of market capitalization on Tuesday, whilst ASPI recorded the all time high level of 3, 127 points on the same day.
Furthermore with positive local and foreign investor sentiments the ASPI continued to be above 3, 000 levels throughout the week whilst with healthy turnover levels above LKR1 bn during the first four days of the week.
However the market closed down today to end a strong bout of upward movement and the comparatively low turnover level today ended the seven consecutive days of turnover levels surpassing the LKR1 bn mark. Average daily turnover increased by 23.1% WoW to LKR1, 110 mn on the back of strong activity during the week. Heavy weight John Keells Holdings and Hatton National Bank enticed strong investor interest contributing for +21% of the week’s turnover. Furthermore strong buying was evident in banking sector counters such as Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank and National Development Bank.
In addition manufacturing sector counters such as Tokyo Cement and ACL Cables witnessed strong activity on the back of increased development of infrastructure projects and the expected positive impact on the manufacturing sector counters. Brown & Company lured investor interest throughout the week on the back of the speculation that the Company along with another related party may own 20% stake in Seylan Bank after the closure of the PO. The favourite pick of the retailers for the week was Lanka Cement. The week saw a net foreign inflow of LKR477.9 mn, where foreign purchases for the week amounted to LKR1,568.1 mn, whilst foreign sales amounted to LKR1,090.2 mn.
Sri Lanka outlook upgraded to stable
Fitch Rating has lifted the “B+” sovereign rating of Sri Lanka from negative to stable on the back of improving macro economic factors following the end of the three decade old war, approval of the USD2.6 bn loan and other capital inflows. This would reduce the risk of credit default, which in turn would enhance investor confidence.
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