Bourse gains on peace hopes

Heavy foreign interest in LIOC:

Channa Kasturisinghe

BOURSE: Both indices gained sharply yesterday and the local and foreign investors were semed to be eyeing keenly blue chips and fundamentally strong counters.

The market turnover also remained healthy and analysts expected the momentum would continue in the coming days as more and more retail and high net-worth investors have begun to actively participate in the market.

"There were indications on the part of the LTTE that they are still willing to come to the negotiating table. Such a breakthrough would undoubtedly help the market move upwards," Manager Business Development of Bartleet Mallory Stock Brokers Angelo Ranasinghe, told the Daily News.

The All Share Price Index gained 20.30 points to close 2,335.72 points and the Milanka Price Index rose by 25.69 points to close at 2,935.18 points. The turnover continued to be at a healthy level of Rs. 392 million.

Strong foreign interest in Lanka IOC shares was the highlight of yesterday's trading. Over 4.3 million Lanka IOC shares traded and the share price gained by 10 percent to be among the top 5 gainers. The share closed at Rs. 30.25 moving up by Rs. 2.75.

Analysts said foreign purchases amounted to 60 percent of the total Lanka IOC shares traded.

"The investor interest on the share has remarkably increased as the Company announced this week about a possible agreement on subsidy settlement with the Government which would strengthen its financial situation. In addition, the world oil prices have sharply come down to about 60 US Dollars a barrel this week which would also help its finances as it might continue to sell petroleum products at recently increased price level." an analyst said.

Analysts also said that local participation in the market has also improved remarkably during the last few days and they contributed to about 80 percent of the total market turnover.

Over 1.7 million shares of John Keells Hotels Ltd. also traded yesterday pushing the share price up by Rs. 0.75 to close at Rs. 10. Investor interest on the share has increased during the past few days due to the news that the leisure industry top player is to buy out Confifi Hotels which owns lucrative hotel properties along the southern coastal belt.

Confifi's Riverina Hotel gained nearly 10 percent and the share price rose by Rs. 4 to Rs. 44.50. Confifi Hotel Holdings also went up by Rs. 5.75 to close at 131.50. Nearly half a million Eden Hotel Lanka shares traded and the share increased marginally.

James Finlay which ended as the top loser on Tuesday became the top gainer yesterday with nearly three hundred thousand share s being traded. The share moved up by over 17 percent to close at Rs. 165.

Sri Lanka Telecom, Tokyo Cement (non-voting) and Sierra Cables were among other heavily traded shares.