Bourse consolidates but foreign net inflow tops Rs. 14 b mark

Wednesday, 5 June 2013 00:57 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Colombo stock market saw mixed fortunes with some degree of consolidation led by profit taking by investors though the net foreign inflow remained robust surpassing the Rs. 14 billion mark.

Heavy deals on Commercial Bank shares saw the market enjoy a net inflow of Rs. 439 million thereby pushing the year-to-date figure to Rs. 14.3 billion. According to NDB Stockbrokers, foreign holding of COMBank rose by 3.18 million shares whilst the counter which dominated turnover saw three off-board blocks totaling .9 million shares done at Rs. 125 each. COMBank closed at Rs. 124, up by 1.64%.

That apart, the rest of the market was relatively lacklustre though it managed to gain lost ground mid-day. “The Bourse experienced a considerable dip during the early hours while a gradual recovery could be seen during the latter half of the day, closing the market in a mixed note,” LOLC Securities said.

The ASPI dipped 2.02 points and the S&P SL 20 Index gained 10.31 points. The market is up 14.3% year-to-date.

Turnover was a healthy Rs. 1 billion.

“Indices consolidated further,” noted Softlogic Stockbrokers, adding that the Bourse further continued its volatile path on a much wider 30 points band.

It said gains recorded on Chevron Lubricants (+6.0%) and Commercial Bank (+1.6%) weighted positively on the index. However losses denoted on John Keells Holdings (-0.6%) and The Good Hope (-13.7%) held the index on marginal grounds.

Softlogic said Chevron Lubricants extending the prolonged rally as the high dividend payer saw a notable appreciation in price with strong on-board volume. LLUB closed at Rs. 365.9 with a gain of 6.0%.

Haycarb too recorded a single off-board block of 300,000 shares at Rs. 200 each. The Haycarb share price gained by Rs. 5.20 (2.60%) to close at Rs. 205.

Premier blue chip John Keells Holdings continued its slide, depicting the highest on-board turnover for the day. The counter witnessed a single large on-board block of 60,000 shares which was transacted at Rs. 282.50 before settling at Rs. 281.70.

Softlogic also said retailer activity was minimum and concentrated on some selected stocks such as Nation Lanka Finance, Commercial Credit and Finance and Abans Finance.

Asia Wealth said Abans Electricals witnessed retail interest that enabled the counter to record its 52 week high price of Rs. 175 and to be on the top turnover list. The counter gained 20.5% to end the day at Rs. 162.4.