Wednesday, 20 February 2013

LSL Market Review 20th Feb 2013


Interest on John Keells Holdings failed to lift up spirits at the CSE today as the overall market was sluggish. A handful of blue-chips such DFCC, NDB, Ceylon Tobacco Company and Chevron Lubricants also gained ground. It seems buying interest is only evident in fundamentally sound blue-chips during the past few weeks. Yields on treasury bills were flat across all three maturities which might indicate that the interest rates will stabilize at prevailing levels.

ASI dipped 6.94 points (0.12%) to close at 5,730.54 and the S&P SL20 index lost 13.72 points (0.42%) to close at 3,224.85. Turnover was Rs. 763.5Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were Hatton National Bank with Rs. 311.2Mn, Ceylon Tobacco Company with Rs. 189.2 and John Keells Holdings with Rs. 68.8Mn. Most active counters for the day were Touchwood Investments, Hemas Holdings and Central Investments & Finance.

Notable gainers for the day were C.W. Mackie up by 5.3% to close at Rs. 70.00, Hemas Holdings up by 5.1% to close at Rs. 28.70 and Asia Asset Finance up by 4.2% to close at Rs. 2.50. Notable losers for the day were Touchwood Investments down by 7.6% to close at Rs. 6.10, Nawaloka Hospitals down by 6.5% to close at Rs. 2.90 and Panasian Finance down by 3.6% to close at Rs. 2.70.

Cash map for today was 52.78%. Foreign participation was 55.28% of total market turnover and net foreign outflow was Rs. 223.97Mn.

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