Indices pick up
Market remained silent for most part of the week as shares suffered
on early profit taking following weeks of sharp gains. Furthermore on
Thursday the court ruling against the privatization of Distilleries
group Company Sri Lanka Insurance impacted adversely on overall market
sentiment.
However the indices picked up on Friday with both indices gaining
moderately. The ASPI (All Share Price Index) closed the week at 2178.1
points down by 37.9 points or 1.7 percent, compared to last week,
meanwhile the MPI (Milanka Price Index) showed a notable 72.2 point or
2.9 percent dip to close at 2447.6 points.
The highest contributor towards turnover for the week was S.M.
Leasing (SMLL), which contributed Rs. 448.4 million. On Friday Peoples
Leasing Company reportedly acquired a stake consisting of 84.5 per cent
of SMLL at a price of Rs. 23.00 per share. However WoW the share price
of the counter observed a 1.2 percent decline compared to last week. The
share closed at Rs. 21.00 per share, while trading at a high of Rs.
20.50 and a low of Rs. 22.25 per share for the week.
NDB saw its share price declining by 0.8 percent during the week, to
close at Rs. 119.00 per share, while trading at a high of Rs. 125.00 and
a low of Rs. 114.00 per share.
The counter was the second highest contributor towards turnover this
week with contribution towards weekly turnover amounting to Rs. 254.9
million. 2.2 million shares of NDB traded during the week
Distilleries was among the top losers this week, with the share price
shedding 13.0 percent WoW, to close at Rs. 79.00 per share.
Distilleries’ was seen actively trading ahead of the court ruling
with a total of 2.9 million shares trading for the week adding Rs. 249.0
million to the week’s turnover.
The counter traded within the range of Rs. 66.00 per share and Rs.
97.00 per share for the week. Notable quantities of JKH shares were seen
trading this week, with the most part of shares trading on Friday.
The share contributed Rs. 222.2 million towards turnover, becoming
the fourth highest contributor towards total turnover for the week.
The counter traded within a range of Rs. 109.00 and Rs. 115.5 per
share to close the week at Rs. 111.00 per share, down by 3.7 percent WoW.
Total volume traded of JKH amounted to 2.0 million.
Total turnover amounted to Rs. 2.7 billion this week, with the
average daily turnover amounting to Rs. 533.5 million.
WoW activity levels were down by 46.6 percent. Friday posted the
highest daily turnover for the week amounting to Rs. 1.1 billion with
S.M. Leasing strategic deal taking place.
Foreign investors were net buyers this week after a period of two
weeks amounting to Rs. 240.3 million. Foreign purchase for the week
amounted to Rs. 916.5 million, while foreign sales amounted to Rs. 676.2
million.
Foreign participation for the week stood at a notable 29.9 percent of
total activity this week. Among the highest traded stocks in terms of
volume for the week were Janashakthi, S.M. Leasing, Pan Asia
Distilleries and Seylan Merchant (Non Voting).
Point of View Volatility to continue
As expected by us, the market was extremely volatile this week with
healthy activity levels. The All Share Price Index (ASPI) lost 1.7
percent during the week while the sensitive Milanka Price Index (MPI)
declined by 2.9 percent compared to last week.
The indices are likely to remain volatile in the coming week amidst a
mix of profit taking and bargain hunting at regular intervals. Therefore
we advice investors to focus on the possible trading opportunities in
the marketplace while continuing to accumulate fundamentally sound
stocks that are trading at attractive levels.
The information contained herein has been compiled from sources that
Acuity Stockbrokers (Private) Limited (ASB) believes to be true and
reliable but we do not hold ourselves responsible for its completeness
or accuracy. No matter published herein create any liability of any kind
on ASB.
All opinions, views, findings and conclusions included in this report
constitute ASB’s judgment of this date and are subject to change without
notice.
ASB has the sole copyright for this report and the information and
views contained cannot be reproduced or quoted in part or whole in any
form whatsoever without the written permission from ASB. |