ASPI loses ground

Japanese and Hong Kong markets, which were closed on Monday, reacted to yesterday’s bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers with the Nikkei 225 the Hang Seng losing 5%.

The Singapore Straits Times Index meanwhile lost 1% while the BSE Sensex, the most widely watched Indian index, ended flat. Central Bankers around the world are injecting liquidity to calm volatile financial markets - the Japanese Central Bank pumped 1.5 trillion yen while the European Central Bank injected the system with an additional 30 billion Euros.

Most other Asian markets continued Monday’s decline. The CSE followed international trends, with the ASPI losing another 17 points (-0.7%) to close at 2,321, while the MPI lost 24 points (-0.9%) to close at 2,633.

Market turnover was a high of Rs 1,011 million on account of shares of 5 million AMW shares changing hands at Rs 174.50. AMW was acquired by the Dubai based Al-Futtain Group in July.

John Keells Holdings which announced an additional loss of Rs 20 million on account of oil that the company was unable to dispose of while vacating the Sri Lanka Port Authority premises closed down at Rs 85.00, while Distilleries came closed down at Rs 75.00.

First Guardian Equities