Bourse survives

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 00:40 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Colombo stock market yesterday finally averted a bizarre crash thanks to return of fresh buying boosting the Bourse’s worth by Rs. 31 billion.

The All Share Index gained by 59 points or near 1% and Milanka by 34 points (slightly over 0.5%) whilst turnover was a healthy Rs. 2 billion. Of the 232 companies traded, 152 or over 65% achieved gains.

Yesterday’s recovery was a sigh of relief for all stakeholders of the market as it had lost Rs. 121 billion in value in the previous six days whilst ASPI was down 3% year to date and 17% since mid-February peak.

“The indices remained volatile during the day with the ASPI declining marginally before rebounding sharply on renewed buying across the board,” John Keells Stock Brokers said.

“ Indices bounced back after dipping during early trading, with the increased participation of investors. A strong buying momentum was witnessed across the board during the latter half,” NDB Stockbrokers said. “However, some blue chip counters failed to get into the positive trend. Indices ended in green after ending in red for four consecutive days,” it added.

“Following the steep dip in performance leading most counters to be attractively priced, investors plunged into a buying mode today making use of the bargain,” Arrenga Capital said.

Best performing sector was Stores & Supplies (+3.31%) whilst the worst was Services (-0.26%).

NDBB said diversified sector was the main contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments, Softlogic Holdings and JKH), while the sector index rose by 0.16%. Banks, Finance & Insurance sector also contributed significantly to the turnover (due to Central Finance and Swarnamahal Finance). The sector index rose 1.28%. The share price of CF rose by Rs. 34.60 (2.45%) and closed at Rs. 1,430.10. Interest was witnessed in Swarnamahal Finance and selling pressure continued in JKH.

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