The Colombo bourse was pushed back to a murky terrain again this week after it denoted signs of a upturn early last week, according to a weekly report by SC Securities (Pvt) Ltd.
The market fell by 106.42 points (5.63%) over the last week’s close to end at 1,783.94 points, while the more sensitive MPI closed at 1,989.19 points, down by 135.52 points (6.38%) W/W (week on week).
Activity levels improved largely due to high value crossings during the shortened trading week. The total turnover generated for the week under review was Rs.940 million, while the average daily turnover was Rs.235 million, up from last week’s average daily turnover of Rs.133.02 million. The share transaction of Sunshine Holdings PLC and DFCC Bank PLC which took place on Monday and Friday respectively, accounted for more than half of the week’s market turnover, the broker’s report said.
It was a week which saw nine out of the top ten high cap counters fall W/W with the only exception of Nestle Lanka PLC which closed flat W/W at Rs.290. Among the counters, high cap stocks Dialog Telekom PLC (DIAL) was the largest loser, decreasing by 10.34% (Rs.0.75) W/W followed by Commercial Bank PLC (COMB) 7.45% (Rs.7.00) W/W and Aitken Spence PLC (SPEN), down by 7.24% (Rs.24.00).
John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) fell by 6.16% (Rs.4.25) W/W while the highest capitalized stock, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) fell by 3.77% (Rs.1.50) W/W. DIAL, SPEN, COMB, JKH & SLT closed at Rs.6.50, Rs.306.00, Rs.87.00, Rs.64.75, Rs.38.25 respectively, the report said.
On Friday two crossings associated with Ceylon Cold Stores PLC and DFCC Bank PLC accounted for more than 75% of the days turnover and close to 50% of the week’s turnover. A quantity of 689,300 shares of Ceylon Cold Stores transacted at a price of Rs.135.00 generating a turnover of Rs.93.05 million while a parcel of 4,391,400 shares of DFCC bank traded at a price of Rs.82.00 with a turnover value of Rs.360.09 million. The only other crosing that took place during the preceding three trading days was that of Ceylinco Insurance PLC of which a quantity of 89,000 shares (voting) changed hands at Rs.225.00, generating a turnover of Rs.20.03 million.
SC Securities said DIAL which released it’s quarterly financial statements on Friday saw it’s share price plunge by more than 10% as investors took selling positions in response to a bleak quarterly performance. More than 1.18 million shares of DIAL traded during the week generating a turnover of Rs.8.07 million at a high of Rs.7.50, a low of Rs.6.50 and closed at Rs.6.50 for the week. |
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