Market moderate

The profit taking in the wider market and a marked drop on Sampath Bank upon employees share options being exercised brought the indices lower. DFCC hit a 52-week high of Rs. 131.50 amidst an overall surge in most banking counters. Banking counters are sought after as investors view them as stable investments with regular dividends.

ASI dipped 9.31 points (0.16%) to close at 5,735.68 and the S&P SL20 index lost 6.30 points (0.19%) to close at 3,293.57. Turnover was Rs. 2,040.4Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were Commercial Bank with Rs. 614.2Mn, Sampath Bank with Rs. 357.6Mn and Asia Siyaka Commodities with Rs. 278.5Mn. Most active counters for the day were Sampath Bank, Nation Lanka Finance and Commercial Bank.

Notable gainers for the day were Infrastructure Development up by 24.4% to close at Rs. 199.00, Dunamis Capital up by 20.0% to close at Rs. 12.00 and SMB Leasing up by 14.3% to close at Rs. 0.80. Notable losers for the day were PCH Holdings down by 10.0% to close at Rs. 5.40, Galadari Hotels down by 6.9% to close at Rs. 12.20 and HNB Assurance down by 6.7% to close at Rs. 47.70.

Cash map for yesterday was 55.14%. Foreign participation was 30.01% of total market turnover whilst net foreign selling was Rs. 33.77Mn.

Lanka Securities Research