Colombo equities managed to maintain the momentum gained on last Friday and both indices closed with notable gains.  Core index gained 121.78 index points or 1.7% to close at 7,275.68 while 20-scrip S&P SL index advanced by 69.55 index points (+1.8%) to end at 4,040.67.

Shares gained across the board during today’s session and the price inclines in index-heavy counters such as Commercial Bank (closed at LKR 165.00, +4.0%), John Keells Holdings (closed at LKR 246.00, +2.2%), and Nestle (closed at LKR 2,160.00, + 2.4%) contributed notably to the index performance.

Daily market turnover was LKR 982mn. Access Engineering emerged as the top contributor to the turnover with LKR 241mn supported a crossing of 5mn shares at LKR 38.50. Asia Asset Finance and John Keells Holdings were the next best contributors to the turnover with LKR 64mn and LKR 63mn respectively. Aggregate value of crossings represented 23% of the total turnover.

Out of 261 counters, 208 advanced, 23 slipped and 30 counters remained unchanged. Cash map advanced to from 52% to 61%. 02 counters reached 52wk high prices while 05 counters touched 52wk low price levels.

Shares of Asia Asset Finance (LKR 2.10, +16.7%), Lanka IOC (LKR 60.40, +6.0%), Access Engineering (LKR 38.10, +3.3%) and Lanka Cement (LKR 4.60, +15.0%) attracted heavy investor interest during the day.

Foreign investors closed the day as net buyers with net inflow of LKR 84mn worth of equities. Foreign participation was 28%. Notably, foreign investors have been net buyers since 05^th Nov 2014 and the total net inflow during the past 18 session amounted to LKR 6.2bn. Net foreign inflows were seen in counters such as Access Engineering (LKR 201mn), Lion Brewery (LKR 48mn) and Distilleries (LKR 30mn) while net foreign outflow was mainly seen in John Keells Holdings (LKR 45mn).

Meanwhile Lanka Hospitals announced an interim dividend of LKR 0.50 per share. The share closed at LKR 51.60, +4.9%.

Lanka Securities Research