Quote for the day

“Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.”- Paul Samuelson

Quote for the day

"When buying shares, ask yourself, would you buy the whole company?”- Rene Rivkin

LSL - Market Review – 13th Dec 2012

Positive momentum continued into today’s trading with most blue-chips gaining ground.  Retail participation gathered activity today on improved sentiment. Gains on Ceylon Tobacco Company helped to bolster the indices with relatively high activity seen on the normal board. Banking sector counters such as Sampath Bank, National Development Bank and Commercial Bank also gained ground. It should be noted that foreigners were net sellers on both yesterday and today.

ASI gained 30.72 points (0.56%) to close at 5,547.36, MPI gained 52.77 points (1.05%) to close at 5,063.96 and the S&P SL 20 index gained 29.74 points (0.99%) to close at 3,024.29. Turnover was Rs. 702.3Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were Ceylon Tobacco Company with Rs. 104.5Mn, Chevron Lubricants with Rs. 99.9Mn and National Development Bank with Rs. 54.1Mn. Most active counters for the day were HVA Foods, Central Investments & Finance and Blue Diamonds.

Notable gainers for the day were Sierra Cables up by 13.0% to close at Rs. 2.60, Tangerine up by 7.3% to close at Rs. 75.00 and The Finance non-voting up by 7.1% to close at Rs. 6.00. Notable losers for the day were PC House down by 5.6% to close at Rs. 5.10, Tess Agro down by 4.4% to close at Rs. 2.20 and asia Asset Finance down by 4.0% to close at Rs. 2.40.

Cash map for today was 63.22%. Foreign participation was 32% of total Market turnover whilst net foreign selling was Rs. 24Mn.

Quote for the day

"Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others."  - John Maynard Keynes 

LSL - Market Review – 12th Dec 2012

Colombo stocks rose today with the ASI heading for its highest close in three weeks, on monetary easing by the CBSL. Earlier today, CBSL reduced the policy rates by 25bps while removing the credit ceiling on the banks in the view of fuelling the economic growth in 2013. Taking the cue, the treasuries declined across all the maturities at today’s auction with 1-yr rate declining by 41bps to 12.45%.

ASI advanced by 98.86 points (+1.8%) to 5,516.64 recording the highest daily gain since September 14th while MPI and S&P LK20 index gained 97.77 points (+2.0%) and 31.34 points (+1.1%) to close at 5,011.19 and 2,994.55 respectively. The market turnover stood at LKR 480.0mn.

Retail investors showed interest across the board with 225 stocks posting gains out of the 238 traded.

The highest contribution for the turnover came from HNB (LKR 88.1mn), Nestle (LKR 49.6mn) and John Keells Holdings (LKR 44.6mn). The three crossings reported in HNB and Nestle accounted for only 18% of the total turnover. The cash map (exl crossings) advanced to 58% reflecting the upbeat momentum of the local investors.

Central Investments and Finance Co (+16%), Stafford Hotels (+13.5%), HVA foods (+10%) and Laugfs Gas-non-voting (+8%) were among the top performers while heavy interest was seen in Peoples Leasing, Nation Lanka Finance and SMB Leasing-non-voting.

Interestingly foreigners were net sellers today, ending two consecutive days of net buying. Foreign participation accounted for 28% of the total turnover with a net outflow amounting to LKR 31mn.

Colombo bourse trades at a price earnings ratio (PER) of 11.9x, below the MSCI emerging markets PER of 12.6x and MSCI frontier emerging market PER of 13.4x, suggesting more room for price increase. The market RSI has increased to 56, still below the overbought level of 70. The technical indicators point towards the possibility of sustaining the positive momentum seen in the last few days.

Quote for the day

”It’s very difficult to be different from the rest of the crowd the majority of the time, which by definition is what you’re doing if you’re a successful trader." - Bill Lipschutz

LSL - Market Review – 11th Dec 2012

Indices managed to close higher, helped by gains made on Nestle and Ceylon Tobacco Company. Few private deals were seen on Nestle, Hatton National Bank and National Development Bank which dominated today’s turnover. Retail participation remained on the sidelines as most of the highest contributors to turnover were comprised of blue-chips.

ASI gained 12.92 points (0.24%) to close at 5,417.78, MPI gained 7.28 points (0.15%) to close at 4,913.42 and the S&P SL20 index gained 5.10 points (0.17%) to close at 2,963.21. Turnover was Rs. 488.9Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were Hatton National Bank with Rs. 169.2Mn, Nestle with Rs. 72.8Mn and National Development Bank with Rs. 68.1Mn. Most active counters for the day were People’s leasing & Finance, Ceylon Hotels Corporation and Nestle.

Notable gainers for the day were Free Lanka Capital Holdings up by 9.1% to close at Rs. 2.40, Malwatte Plantations up by 4.4% to close at Rs. 4.70 and Nestle up by 3.9% to close at Rs. 1,510.00. Notable losers for the day were Kelani Valley Plantations down by 9.1% to close at Rs. 78.20, Capital Alliance Finance down by 7.4% to close at Rs. 17.60 and Three Acre Farms down by 4.8% to close at Rs. 45.60.

Cash map for today was 76.17%. Foreign participation was 54% of total market turnover whilst net foreign buying stood at Rs. 36Mn.