CSE completes :

Best year in history

*Becomes second best performing stock market in world

Colombo Stock Exchange Chairman (CSE) Nihal Fonseka, said the CSE completed its best year in history in 2009, overcoming the challenges experienced in 2007 and 2008.

CSE Chairman Nihal Fonseka

The performance of the CSE during the 2009 made it the second best performing Stock Market in the world, according to Bloomberg Newswire.

Fonseka said the All Share Price Index (ASPI), having experienced some volatility during the first few months of 2009, reached historical levels during the post-war period. The index closed the year at 3,385.6 points, the highest level recorded in CSE history.

The ASPI recorded a growth of 125.3 percent for the year 2009, the highest growth recorded by the index for any given year, surpassing the previous record of a growth of 118% for the year 1991.

The post - war growth of the index was 77.7 percent.

The Milanka Price Index (MPI) closed the year at 3,849.4 points, the highest level reached by the MPI since May 2007. The index recorded a growth of 136 percent for the year 2009, also the highest growth recorded by the index for a given year, surpassing the previous high of 51.4 percent for 2006.

The highest point recorded in history by the index was 4,214.8 points on February 26, 2007. The growth of the MPI since the completion of the war was 86.1 percent.

The price indices of all 20 business sectors of the CSE recorded positive gains for the year 2009, with the Construction and Engineering, Investment Trusts, Oil Palms, Trading and Hotels and Travels sectors recording the largest gains of 356.5 percent, 322.9 percent, 254.4 percent, 239.6 percent and 198.6 percent respectively.

The CSE also achieved the highest turnover for a given year by generating Rs 142.5 billion for 2009. The previous record was Rs 114.6 billion generated in the year 2005.

The Colombo Stock Market continues to perform well. Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa

The average Daily Turnover for the year is Rs 593.6 million, surpassing the previous high of Rs 481.5 million for 2005.

The number of transactions for a trading day also reached a milestone in 2009 when 15,290 trades were executed on June 18, 2009.

The previous record was for 13,254 trades executed on July 28, 2005.

The total number of transactions executed during the year 2009 of 1.27 million was the highest number of transactions recorded in CSE history.

The net foreign flows recorded an outflow in 2009 of Rs 788.9 million, the first net outflow recorded since 2001. This was mainly due to the sale of significant holdings in several blue chips by an overseas fund management company that was winding down its funds. The fact that these divestments were easily absorbed by domestic investors without an adverse price impact was an encouraging factor.

The largest net foreign inflow of Rs 13.9 billion was recorded for 2008. The Market Capitalization of the CSE crossed the one Trillion Rupee level for the first time in CSE history in 2009 and closed the year at Rs 1,092.1 billion, the highest in CSE history.