Stock Market Review

June, 6, 2014

Colombo share market wrapped the weekly operations on Friday with mixed results. Core index extended the losses to close at 6,279.14 with a marginal drop of 1.02 points or 0.02% while S&P SL 20 index marginally improved by 5.74 points or 0.17% to close at 3,479.17. Price depreciations in counters such as Ceylon Tobacco (closed at LKR 1,029.50, -2%), Asian Hotels & Properties (closed at LKR 70.00, -3.2%) and Eagle Insurance (closed ta LKR 290.00, -6.9%) contributed negatively to the All share index performance.

Market turnover was LKR 835mn. Several crossings were recorded in Janashakthi Insurance (1.6mn shares at LKR 15.50 per share), Royal Ceramics (2mn shares at LKR 102.00 per share), Parquet Ceylon (2mn shares at LKR 25.00 per share) and John Keells Holdings (0.1mn shares at LKR 235.00 per share). Aggregate value of crossings represented 36% of total market turnover.  Royal Ceramic (LKR 221mn) positioned top at the turnover list followed by John Keells Holdings (LKR 81mn) and Sunshine Holdings (LKR 60mn).

Gainers surpass the losers 111 to 75, while 68 counters remained unchanged. Cash map inclined to 65% from 59%.

Meanwhile shares of The Finance non-voting, PC Pharma and ACME Printing attracted heavy investor interest during the session.

Foreign Investors were net buyers with net inflow of LKR 297mn. Foreign participation was 26%. Foreign inflows were seen in Royal Ceramics (LKR 218mn), John Keells Holdings (LKR 66mn) and Commercial bank (LKR 14mn) while outflow was mainly seen in Aitken Spence (LKR 14mn).

Further, Tokyo Cement declared an interim dividend of LKR 1.50 per share during the trading session and managed to close with higher returns. Tokyo Cement voting share closed at LKR 41.80, +2% while non-voting share closed at LKR 35.50, +1.7%.

Lanka Securities Research