HNB Stockbrokers’ weekly market review

Market holds ground amid gains in few high cap stocks

The market had a shaky start responding to the bomb attacks in the country during the weekend, but thereafter picked up gradually with interest generated on selective stocks, to close the week on a slightly positive note.

Hence at week’s close the ASPI (All Share Price Index) gained 10.2 points or 0.42% to 2463.8 points while to the contrary, the more liquid MPI (Milanka Price Index) dropped by 29.4 points or 0.94% to end at 3123.4 points.

Contradicting signals given by the two indices is due to substantial 17% & 14% price gains of the high-capitalised stocks Carsons & Bukit Darah, which are not included in the Milanka Price Index.

The high cap counter, Distilleries lead market activity with a total turnover of Rs.85 million, While approximately 0.9 million shares traded closing the week at Rs.96 per share rising by Rs.1 from last week’s close of Rs.95 per share.

The week also saw sizable quantities of Seylan (Non Voting) shares being traded, particularly towards the latter part of the week, due to investor expectation of a dividend payout by the Bank.

Approximately 6 million of Seylan (Non Voting) shares traded, adding up a total value of Rs.54.1 million to the weekly turnover. The counter on Friday closed at Rs.9 per share witnessing a week on week price appreciation of 12.5%.

Investor interest on Kshatriya Holding drove up market activity leveled by Rs.50.9 million to stand as the 3rd largest contributed stock for the week. The stock having fluctuated within a price range of Rs.10.25 and Rs.9 closed flat at Rs.9.25.

The major trade on the counter came on Wednesday, which accounted for 98% of the week’s turnover generated by the counter.

SLT consistently attracted investor interest during this week, which generated a total contribution of Rs.47.1 million to the weekly turnover.

During the week SLT traded between a high of Rs.31 per share and a low of Rs.30 per share before closing at Rs.31 per share, witnessing a price gain of 0.81% over the week.

The counter saw over 1.5 million shares been traded during the week. The total turnover for the week stood at Rs.712 million, which is a drop of 33.1% WoW in the absence of any positive news to drive up activity levels. Meanwhile the average daily turnover stood at Rs.178 million, down 16.4% compared to last week.

The week saw foreign investors being net buyers standing at Rs.206.4 million, Resulting from higher foreign purchases, which stood at Rs.277 million, and lower foreign sales, which stood at Rs. 70.6 million. Meanwhile foreign participation for the week stood at 24.4% of total activity.

The heavily traded stocks for the week were Seylan (Non Voting), Kshatriya Holding, Lanka Cement and SLT. Point of view

Sentiment to remain dull

Weak sentiment continued in the marketplace with activity levels remaining low around Rs.178 million on a daily average basis.

Overall the All Share Price Index (ASPI) gained by 10.2 points while Milanka Price Index (MPI) lost 29.4 points during the week compared to last weeks closing levels.

In the week ahead we expect the market to remain dull on low activity levels with indices fluctuating within a narrow range.

However most of the listed companies are yet to announce their earnings for the last quarter of 2007, thus we expect a slight improvement in investor activity in the market when these earnings reports are published in the coming weeks.

This information has been compiled from sources that we believe to be reliable but we do not hold ourselves responsible for its completeness or accuracy.

No matter published herein create any liability of any kind of HNB Stockbrokers (Private) Limited or its associates.

All opinions views findings and conclusions included in this report constitute our judgment of this date and are subject to change without notice.