Colombo equities swung between gains and losses on Monday and closed with mixed results amid political uncertainties. All Share Price Index was up in the morning session by 7.78, +0.1% but closed in the negative column at 7,080.38 with a loss of 6.03 points or -0.09%. S&P SL 20 index gained 8.04 points (-0.20%) to end at 4,020.60.

Price declines in counters such as Hatton National Bank (closed at LKR 226.10, -1.6%) and John Keells Holdings (closed at LKR 208.00, -0.5%) contributed negatively to the market performance while price appreciations in counters such as Carson Cumberbatch (closed at LKR 427.00, +6.7%) and Ceylon Tobacco (closed at LKR 1,014.00, +1.3%) affected positively to the S&P SL 20 index performance.

Daily market turnover was LKR 494mn. John Keells Holdings emerged as the top contributor to the turnover with LKR 93mn followed by Dialog Axiata (LKR 69mn) and Commercial Bank (LKR 60mn). A single crossing was recorded in Dialog Axiata where 2mn shares changed hands at LKR 11.70 per share. The crossing accounted for 5% of the market turnover.

Losers outweighed the gainers 104 to 70 while 57 counters remained unchanged. Cash map declined to 55% from 60%. 04 counters touched 52wk high prices while 03 counters dropped to 52wk low prices.

Access Engineering, John Keells Holdings Warrant 0022, Ascot Holdings and First Capital Holdings were among heavily traded counters. Further apparel sector counters such as Textured Jersey and Hayleys MGT continued to be investor favorites with the anticipation of gaining the GSP+ scheme. Hayleys MGT closed at LKR 19.60, +2.1% and Textured Jersey touched a 52wk high price of 25.90 and closed higher at LKR 25.60, +0.4%.

Foreign investors were net buyers with a net inflow of LKR 185mn after two consecutive days of net selling. Foreign participation was 33%. Net foreign inflows were seen in John Keells Holdings (LKR 85mn), Dialog Axiata (LKR 70mn), and Commercial Bank (LKR 11mn) while net foreign outflow was mainly seen in Aitken Spence (LKR 3mn). Subsequent to today’s inflows, the year to date net foreign inflow increased to LKR 3.6bn.

Lanka Securities Research