Colombo equities managed to regain lost grounds on Wednesday as both indices witnessed marginal returns. All Share Index gained 5.32 index points or 0.08% to close 6,272.76 while 20-scrip S&P SL index gained 3.40 index points or 0.10% to end at 3,450.65. Price appreciations in counters such as Bukit Darah (closed at LKR 650.00, +2.2%), Ceylinco Insurance (closed at LKR 1,360.00, +4.6%) and Dialog Axiata (closed at LKR 9.90, +1.0%) contributed favorably to the index performance.

Daily market turnover reached LKR 451mn with several crossings recorded in Commercial Bank (0.30mn shares at LKR 126.50) and Ceylinco Insurance (0.05mn shares at LKR 1,400.00). Accordingly Ceylinco Insurance topped the turnover with LKR 66mn followed by Seylan Developments (LKR 57mn) & Commercial Bank (LKR 55mn) respectively.

Losers outweighed the gainers 106 to 85, while 65 counters remained unchanged. Cash map declined to 47% from 58%. 6 counters managed to reach 52wk high prices while 6 counters touched 52wk low price levels.

Moreover George Steuart Finance, Lanka IOC and Piramal Glass attracted heavy investor interest during the session. Asian Hotels & Properties declared a final dividend of LKR 3.00 per share and stock closed at LKR 71.10, +1.3%).

Foreign investors were net sellers with LKR 27mn worth of stocks after 5 consecutive days of inflows. Foreign participation was 19%. Foreign outflows were seen in counters such as Seylan Development (LKR 43mn), Renuka Agri Foods (LKR 5mn), Laugfs Gas (LKR 1mn) while foreign inflow was mainly seen in Commercial Bank (LKR 7mn).

Meanwhile at the weekly primary auction held today, yield on 3 month treasury bills dropped by 1bps to 6.56% while 6 month (6.75%) and 12 month (7.02%) Treasury bill yields remained the same.

Furthermore, CBSL announced further relaxation to foreign exchange regulations to enhance the external competitiveness of Sri Lanka in the global markets. (Please refer the attachment –“CBSL - relaxation of foreign exchange regulation” for further details)

Lanka Securities Research