Quote for the day

"Remember, I am neither a bear nor a bull, I am an agnostic opportunist. I want to make money short- and long-term. I want to find good situations and exploit them." - Jim Cramer

LSL Weekly Market Review 08th Mar 2013

Mid-capped and low-capped counters led the losers on Monday although encouraging activity was seen Commercial Bank and Sampath Bank. Foreigners were net buyers in banking counters. Ceylon Tobacco Company was on the losers list as well. ASI slipped 20.80 points (0.37%) and S&P SL 20 Index lost 3.07 points (0.10%). Turnover was Rs.1.1bn. Top contributors to turnover were Commercial Bank, Sampath Bank and National Development Bank. Most active counters for the day were Commercial Bank, National Development Bank and Touchwood Investments. Cash map was 54.28% which mostly led by solid buying on banking counters. Foreign participation was 41.6% while net foreign buying was Rs.858.31Mn.

On Tuesday gains on blue-chips helped to shore up some of the losses on the broader index as indices closed on a mixed note. Private deals on John Keells Holdings and Hatton National Bank provided the market with more than half of the turnover. Promoting retail buying in this sluggish period is critical for the success of the local capital market. ASI dipped 5.12points (0.09%) the S&P SL20 index gained 5.14 points (0.16%). Turnover was Rs.602.8Mn. Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings, Hatton National Bank and Hatton National Bank non-voting. Most active counters for the day were Tess Agro, Central Investments & Finance and Touchwood Investments. Cash map was 58.0%%. Foreign participation was 25.21% whilst net foreign buying was Rs.281.95Mn.

Indices gained higher on Wednesday helped by advances on low-capped and mid-capped counters which is a clear reversal from recent patterns. Deals on Hatton National Bank, Cargills and Asia Siyaka Commodities propelled turnover levels. Yields on treasuries advanced in today’s auction which might indicate Monetary Board will hold policy rates at the current rate. ASI gained 36.59 points (0.65%) and the S&P SL20 gained 5.94 points. Turnover was Rs.1.3bn. Top contributors to turnover were Hatton National Bank, Cargills and Asia Siyaka Commodities. Most active counters for the day were Central Investments & Finance, HVA Foods and Nation Lanka Finance. Cash map closed 51.7%. Foreign investors were net sellers with net outflow of Rs.248.5Mn.

The transfer of a minority stake in Asian Alliance Insurance to Dutch and German investors from Softlogic Holdings was the highlight of the Thursday’s trading. Buying activity was also evident in Cargills and John Keells Holdings. Market trended in the opposite direction according to the implications of Wednesday’s rise in treasury yields. ASI gained 16.66 points (0.29%) and S&P SL20 index gained 5.55 points (0.17%). Turnover was Rs.2.5Bn. Top contributors to turnover were Asian Alliance Insurance, Cargills and John Keells Holdings. Most active counters for the day were Nation Lanka Finance, Nation Lanka Finance-W0021 and PC House. Cash map closed at 71.5%. Foreign participation was 48% whilst net foreign buying was Rs.2.2Bn.

Colombo shares rose further on Friday driven mainly by blue-chips and the banking sector stocks. Central Bank, as expected, decided to hold the policy rates at the current level on expectations of favorable inflation rate in the near future. With the earnings season coming to an end, the market PE has now reached 11.3x, which is the lowest among the peer indices such as MSCI frontier market index (11.8x), MSCI emerging frontier markets index (14.5x).  ASI advanced by 11.37 points (+0.2%) to close at 5,691.39 while S&P SL 20 index gained 2.33 points (+0.1%) to close at 3,222.74. Market turnover was Rs.1.2bn. Blue chips dominated the market activity where Ceylon Tobacco (Rs.331mn), John Keells Holdings (Rs.314 mn) and Commercial Bank (Rs.103 mn) were the top contributors to the days’ turnover. Retailers were seen active in the counters such as Nation Lanka Finance, PC House and Janashakthi Insurance. Noteworthy gainers for the day were, HNB voting at Rs.156.00, up by Rs.4.00, HNB non-voting at Rs.127.40, up by Rs.3.70. Ceylon Tobacco at Rs. 800.00, up by Rs.10.60 while notable losers were Nation Lanka Finance at Rs.9.50, down by Rs.0.40, Free Lanka Capital at Rs.2.40, down by Rs.0.10 and Piramal Glass at Rs.6.00, down by Rs.0.20. Cash map declined to five day low of 45%. Foreigners were net buyers for the third consecutive day with a net foreign inflow of Rs.206mn. The foreign participation accounted for 53% of the market activity.