National Equity Fund interim report positive

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The interim report of the National Equity Fund (NEF)has returned a positive 87.38 percent for the six month period ended September 30 and 80 percent of the fund was invested in equity securities while 20 percent was invested in Treasury Bills and bonds.

NEF Fund Manager, S Jayavarman said that the Fund witnessed high investor interest in speculative shares which propelled the markets to great heights along with a flood of new investors to the market. Market price to earnings ratio climbed from 23.31 times on June 30 to 27.84 times on September 30.

Jayavarman said that the return of optimism coupled with the decline in market interest rates and the reduction in brokerage fees attracted investors to the share market which appreciated by 87.87 percent during the semi annual period ending September 30 as measured by the All Share Price Index.

"We expect the stock market to be volatile in the short term, however, value in selected shares in the longer term and therefore would continue to engage in selective share investments with a two to three year investment horizon in mind," Jayavarman said.