Quote for the day

"The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading." - Victor Sperandeo

LSL Market Review – 19th Mar 2013

A late rally in blue-chips saw indices driven higher. Nestle reached an all-time high price of Rs. 1,800.00 whilst John Keells Holdings is trading at a higher adjusted price than its pre-split all-time high price. Meanwhile, National Development Bank continued to gain ground today whilst DFCC also gained good ground on thin volumes. John Keells Holdings continued to dominate turnover followed by banking counters.

ASI gained 14.85 points (0.26%) to close at 5,722.86 and the S&P SL20 index gained 13.58 points (0.42%) to close at 3,283.79. Turnover was Rs. 933.7Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings with Rs. 444.2Mn, PCH Holdings with Rs. 94.5Mn and Commercial Bank with Rs. 81.0Mn. Most active counters for the day were Nations Trust Bank, Commercial Bank and Hatton National Bank non-voting.

Amongst the top gainers Kotagala Plantations – Rights, Durdans Hospitals non-voting and Nestle Lanka reached 52 week high price levels. Asiri Surgical Hospitals traded heavily and reached 52 Week High as the counter’s XD date falls tomorrow.

Cash map for today was 56.67%. Foreign participation was 37.01% of total market turnover whilst net foreign buying was Rs. 221.8Mn.

Quote for the day

"Behind every adversity is an opportunity. If you lament over the adversity, you will miss the opportunity." – Ajaero Tony Martins

LSL Market Review 18th Mar 2013

Indices gained helped by Hatton National Bank, Commercial Bank, Carson Cumberbatch and Bukit Darah. Ceylon Tobacco Company saw its shares sliding today whilst John Keells Holdings and National Development Bank saw their share prices reaching 52-week highs. Turnover was a paltry site as institutions were having an off-day.

ASI gained 3.48 points (0.06%) to close at 5,708.01 and the S&P SL20 index gained 7.77 points (0.24%) to close at 3,270.21. Turnover was Rs. 309.4Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings with Rs. 63.8Mn, Hatton National Bank with Rs. 49.7Mn and Hemas Holdings with Rs. 18.5Mn. Most active counters for the day were Panasian Power, Commercial Bank and Hatton National Bank non-voting.

Notable gainers for the day were Ascot Holdings up by 22.3% to close at Rs. 168.70, Panasian Power up by 7.7% to close at Rs. 2.80 and Amana Takaful up by 6.7% to close at Rs. 1.60. Notable losers for the day were Central Investments & Finance down by 3.6% to close at Rs. 2.70, PC house down by 3.2% to close at Rs. 3.00 and DFCC down by 2.3% to close at Rs. 120.10.

Cash map for today was 46.11%. Foreign participation was 26.96% of total market turnover whilst net foreign selling was Rs. 5.92Mn.

Quote for the day

"I believe the very best money is to be made at the market turns. Everyone says you get killed trying to pick tops and bottoms and you make all the money by catching the trends in the middle. Well, for twelve years, I have often been missing the meat in the middle, but I have caught a lot of bottoms and tops. If you are a trend follower trying to catch the profits in the middle of a move, you have to use very wide stops. I'm not comfortable doing that. Also, markets trend only about 15% of the time; the rest of the time they move sideways." - Paul Tudor Jones

Quote for the day

"For some reason, people take their cues from price action rather than from values. What doesn’t work is when you start doing things that you don’t understand or because they worked last week for somebody else. The dumbest reason in the world to buy a stock is because it’s going up." - Warren Buffett

LSL Weekly Market Review 15th Mar 2013

Market opened on a positive note on Monday but the main index dropped after mid-day on retail selling. It’s assumed as a result of retail investors taking a cue from recent upward pressure on interest rates. News of Cargills/CT Holdings securing IFC backing for their bank failed to show a marked gain on their prices. ASI dropped 14.08 points (0.25%) and the S&P SL20 index gained 6.45 points (0.20%). Turnover was Rs. 557.0Mn.

On Tuesday, indices gained on the back of improved buying activity on blue-chips such as John Keells Holdings, Commercial Bank and Ceylon Tobacco Company. National Development Bank rose by around Rs. 3.00 on relatively thin volumes as investors expect a lump sum final dividend. Foreign buying on blue-chips has driven the market from last year’s low levels and we expect this trend to continue in the mid-term. ASI gained 27.01 points (0.48%) and the S&P SL20 index gained 17.90 points (0.55%). Turnover was Rs. 671.6Mn.

Retail selling prevailed on Wednesday although few blue-chips sought by foreigners gained marginally. John Keells Holdings and National Development Bank reached their 52-week highs of Rs. 239.00 and Rs. 157.00. Ceylon Tobacco Company saw another lackluster day with buying interest slowing. Yields on all treasuries rose by 5 basis points each which further illustrate the negative footing of retailers.  ASI lost 18.50 points (0.32%) and the S&P SL20 index lost 11.85 points (0.36%). Turnover was Rs. 447.0Mn.

A late surge in blue-chips helped to recover from mid-day losses on Thursday. John Keells Holdings and National Development Bank continued to improve their 52-week highs to Rs. 239.00 and Rs. 158.50 respectively. Few blue-chips are trading beyond their intrinsic values therefore we advise investors not to get into the herd instinct but stick to value investing. ASI gained 3.16 points (0.06%) and the S&P SL20 index gained 5.79 points (0.18%). Turnover was Rs. 609.2Mn.

Indices closed higher on Friday driven by gains on foreign-favourite blue-chips such as John Keells Holdings, Ceylon Tobacco Company and Commercial Bank. Meanwhile National Development Bank continued to rise on speculation of a large final dividend. However, retail counters seem to be losing interest amongst investors who seem to be looking for steady returns with blue-chips. ASI gained 15.55 points (0.27%) to close at 5,704.53 and the S&P SL20 index gained 21.41 points (0.66%) to close at 3,262.44. Turnover was Rs. 729.9Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings with Rs. 269.3Mn, Bukit Darah with Rs. 97.5Mn and National Development bank with Rs.  87.0Mn. Most active counters for the day were PC House which announced a 1:2 rights issue at Rs. 3.00, National Development Bank and John Keells Holdings.

Notable gainers for the day were Citrus Leisure warrant-19 up by 8.3% to close at Rs. 2.60, Ceylon tea Brokers up by 4.1% to close at Rs. 5.10 and Kelani Tyres up by 3.0% to close at Rs. 33.90. Notable losers for the day were PC House down by 12.6% to close at Rs. 3.20, Panasian Power down by 3.7% to close at Rs. 2.60 and Nawaloka down by 3.3% to close at Rs. 2.90.

Cash map for today was 57.53%. Foreign participation was 25.74% of total market turnover whilst net foreign buying was Rs. 335.5Mn.