Market closed marginally lower although premier blue chip
John Keells Holdings gained around 1.3%. Losses on Bukit Darah, Hatton National
Bank, Commercial Bank saw the indices driven lower whilst foreign investor
favourites Nestle, Chevron Lubricants and Lion Brewery gained further ground.
Blue-chips continued to dominate turnover with retail activity slowing down.
Power and energy sector gained 1.3% to reflect the improved
hydro electricity generation currently taking place in the country. Chemicals
& pharmaceuticals sector lost most ground with CIC Holdings closing lower
at Rs. 64.00.
ASI dipped 1.62 points (0.03%) to close at 5,746.09 and the
S&P SL20 index dipped 1.67 points (0.05%) to close at 3,120.04. Turnover
was Rs. 557.5Mn.
Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings with
Rs. 218.3Mn, Commercial Bank with Rs. 94.1Mn and Aitken Spence with Rs. 44.0Mn.
Most active counters for the day were Panasian Power,
People’s Leasing & Finance and Free Lanka Capital Holdings.
Notable gainers for the day were Durdans Hospitals up by
13.6% to close at Rs. 104.50, Malwatte Plantations up by 6.4% to close at Rs.
5.00 and Janashakthi Insurance up by 5.5% to close at Rs. 11.50. Notable losers
for the day were Kandy Hotels down by 5.1% to close at Rs. 9.40, Royal Ceramics
down by 4.0% to close at Rs. 95.00 and Free Lanka Capital Holdings down by 3.7%
to close at Rs. 2.60.
Cash map for today was 61.55% driven mainly by institutional
investors. Foreign participation was 40.3% of total market turnover whilst net
foreign buying stood at Rs. 199.2Mn.
