Crossings dominated bourse while indices extended downtrend

sriranga · 1 Sri Lankan shares hit 3-week lows on foreign selling Thu Aug 22, 2013 5:35 pm

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COLOMBO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan stocks slid to a three-week closing low on Thursday, hit by foreign selling and as retail investors stayed on the sidelines amid a falling rupee , brokers said.

The main share index ended 0.5 percent, or 30.79 points, down at 6,085.88, its lowest close since July 31.

Stockbrokers said concerns over the rupee volatility and earning fears dented sentiment.

Analysts said investors were cautious over the fall in the rupee. The local currency hit a new 11-1/2-month low on Thursday due to importer dollar demand.

Shares in Nestle Lanka Plc fell 0.6 percent to 2,326.50 rupees, while conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc fell 0.56 percent to 248 rupees.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the first time in six sessions, selling 92.5 million rupees ($701,300) worth of shares. But they have been net buyers of 18.42 billion rupees so far this year.

Turnover was 652.8 million rupees, below this year's daily average of about 919.8 million rupees.

($1 = 131.9000 Sri Lanka rupees)

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Anand Basu)

(ranga.sirilal@thomsonreuters.com)(+94-11-232-5540

(Reuters Messaging: ranga.sirilal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)(twitter.com/rangab a)
http://www.xe.com/news/2013/08/22/3508937.htm

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WRITTEN BY THARANGA SENARATNE

Aug 22, 2013 (LBT) - Indices on a downtrend: Indices continued its dip as the benchmark index dipped 30 points at its close to 6,085.88. The dip was primarily driven by John Keells Holdings (-0.6%) and Ceylon Tobacco Company (-1.6%) which now collectively take up 18% of market capitalization. The S&P SL20 followed a similar path backed by dips in the above heavy caps. 8 crossings added 69% to the turnover: Diversified players attracted interest as John Keells Holdings spearheaded the turnover backed by 4 crossings which carried 720k shares at LKR247.9 and LKR248.0. The counter continued to be active on board as it touched LKR250.0 before closing with a dip at LKR248.0. Hemas Holdings registered two crossings which accumulated to 5.1 mn shares at LKR34.2 and LKR34.3 during early trading while on-board activity in the counter remained dormant. Commercial Bank and Lion Brewery recorded one crossing each which added 600k shares and 67k shares to the crossings board respectively.

Continued on-board interest in banking counters: BFI sector contributed 26% to the day’s turnover as banking sector counters depicted notable on-board interest. Hatton National Bank and Nations Trust Bank edged up to the top turnover slot while both touched LKR154.9 and LKR62.9 at their intra-day high levels. Commercial Bank and Sampath Bank also saw some buying interest. Retailers took a cautious note: Retail activity was moderate with majority of activity surrounding; Sanasa Development Bank, Panasian Power, Nation Lanka Finance and Union Bank.
http://lbt.lk/stock-market