Analysts say it’s right time to buy

Channa KASTURISINGHE

BOURSE: The market continued the downward trend with both indices sharply declining but analysts said that investors should capitalise on the buying opportunities without panicking.

The All Share Price index declined by 2.25 percent losing 65.28 points to close at 2,842.22 points which was well below the record 3000 mark it reached just a couple of weeks ago.

Heavy selling pressure on blue chips caused the Milanka Price Index to suffer a loss of 116.14 points or 2.86 percent falling below the 4000 mark to close at 3,941.28 points. Yesterday’s activity level also remained low with the total turnover being Rs.348 million.

The telecommunications sector shares recorded losses with Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) losing Rs.1.25 to close at Rs. 37.25.

Over 1.5 million SLT shares traded yesterday and some brokers said most investors were reacting to the market rumour that NTT was planning to sell its stake in SLT. Dialog declined by Rs. 1 to close at Rs. 25.75 with over half a million shares changing hands.

Distilleries fell by Rs.4 to close at Rs. 114 and JKH also came down by Rs.2 dragging the Milanka down.

Angelo Ranasinghe of Bartleet Mallory Stock Brokers said a lot of factors including adverse news reports could have contributed to this sharp downfall of the market and advised investors not to panic butcapitalise on the situation.

He said that there was a need for big institutional buyers and state funds to actively participate in the market which would check the downward trend. Indika Rajakaruna of Asha Phillip Securities said that there were lot of buying opportunities for investors created in the market due to sharp decline of certain stocks.

“Stocks like SLT are still considered to be undervalued and this is the right opportunity to buy them,” he said.