ASPI clears 6,000 point barrier

Redbulls

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WRITTEN BY THARANGA SENARATNE

May 03, 2013 (LBT) - Big caps carry index above 6,000: The bourse stagnated during most part of the 1st half of trading with only marginal gains to record a sudden surge amidst buying interest in the heavyweight counters. Strong buying and gains in Ceylon Tobacco, John Keells Holdings, Dialog, Hatton National Bank and Distilleries resulting in the index surging by 40 points to close passing the 6,000 mark at 6,013 after 16 months since 03.01.2012. The S&P SL20 also witnessed a similar trajectory as blue chips controlled the uptrend to record 25 point gain.

John Keells Holdings dominates proceedings: John Keells Holdings, the premier conglomerate dominated trading activity to be the top performer for the day supported by 2 crossings accounting for 381k shares at LKR252.0. In onboard trading the counter renewed its 52-week high to LKR253.0 while it managed to close on the high side at LKR252.8 denoting the strength of the buying. Banking sector counters Commercial Bank and National Development Bank registered considerable investor interest with former recording number of large blocks of 135k, 200k and 312k at prices LKR115, LKR116 and LKR118 respectively. The former gained 1.4% to LKR116.6 while the latter gained 0.7% to LKR171.1 at close.

Retail Play heavy on Colombo Land and Touchwood: Colombo Land saw heavy retail participation with 1.4mn shares trading during the day between LKR50.5 and LKR53.8 while closing at 53.6 with a gain of 5.1%. Touchwood Investments which witnessed heavy selling pressure yesterday recovered marginally to LKR6.0 (+5.3%) amidst heavy volume of 4.5mn shares. Retail activity is on the rise: With the market on an upward rally retail participation has considerably improved. Though retail participation is mostly linked to speculative counters it is clearly evident that fundamental counters such as Textured Jersey and Piramal Glass also have recorded reasonable retail participation.
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sriranga

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May 3 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares hit a 16-month closing high on Friday led by blue chips such as conglomerate John Keells Holdings, while retail investors bought select shares on expectations of a rate cut at the central bank's policy meeting next week, traders said.

The main stock index rose 0.68 percent, or 40.81 points, to 6,013.18, its highest close since Jan. 3, 2012.

Shares have been rising on hopes of a fall in interest rates after Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera and the central bank said official interest rates could ease in May-June.

The market has risen 4.08 percent through Friday since the treasury secretary's comments on April 9.

"Retailers are playing little with the signal of interest rates coming down," said an analyst.

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday Sri Lanka must not loosen monetary conditions as inflation remains a concern, even though prices had risen at a slower pace in April than the previous month.

Shares in John Keells Holding PLC rose 1.2 percent to 253 rupees.

The turnover was 881.5 million rupees ($6.97 million), well below this year's daily average of 963.9 million rupees.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 48.39 million rupees of shares, extending the net foreign inflow so far this year to 8.93 billion rupees. Last year, the bourse saw a net inflow of $303 million.

The rupee ended weaker at 126.30/40 per dollar from Thursday's close of 126.10/20 on importer dollar demand, currency dealers said. ($1 = 126.5250 Sri Lanka rupees)

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/03/markets-srilanka-idUKL3N0DK1Y720130503

CSE.SAS · 3 ASPI clears 6,000 point barrier Sat May 04, 2013 1:11 am

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Foreigners chase fundamentals, retailers punt on cheaper shares

The All Share Price Index of the Colombo bourse yesterday breached the 6,000 point resistance barrier with both indices gaining tidily – the ASPI up 40.81 points (0.68%) and S&P SL20 up 24.61 points (0.73%) on a turnover of Rs.881.5 million, up from the previous day’s Rs.637.8 million.

The ASPI closed 6,013.18 points while S&P closed at 3,405.99. Gainers outpaced losers 162 to 56 while 94 counters closed flat.

Brokers said that both blue chips and punting stock were on a run with counters with strong fundamentals like JKH, Commercial Bank, NDB and Hayleys showing both price gains and quantity.

"Foreigners were chasing the blue chips while retailers were looking at shares like Colombo Land, Touchwood, Asian Alliance Insurance and Expolanka," a broker said.

JKH was the most traded stock yesterday with two block trades totaling nearly 0.4 million shares done at a price of Rs.252 contributing Rs.96 million to turnover.

The blue chip conglomerate was also the most traded stock on the floor closing Rs.3 up at Rs.253 on nearly 0.6 million shares done between Rs.250.50 and Rs.253 contributing Rs.145.6 million to the day’s business volume.

Commercial Bank (voting) closed Rs.1.50 up at Rs.116.50 on nearly a million shares done between Rs.115 and Rs.118 while NDB closed Rs.2 up at Rs.172 on nearly 0.2 million shares done between Rs.169.50 and Rs.172.50.

Hayleys, where 59,454 shares were traded, hit a intraday high of Rs.300 but closed a tad lower at Rs.299.90 while Asian Alliance Insurance gained Rs.6 to close at Rs.93 on 0.2 million shares.

Among the punting stocks, Colombo Land was up Rs.2.20 toRs.53.20, Touchwood up 20 cents to Rs.5.90 and Expolanka up 30 cents to Rs.7.30.

Brokers said that following settlement of accounts at the end of April retailers were active in less pricey speculative stock.

DFCC Bank announced a first and final dividend of Rs.5 a share for 2012/13 following shareholder approval at the June 28 AGM with the stock trading XD from Jluy 1 and payment on July 9.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=78162