By Hiran H.Senewiratne
CSE trading was characterized by a marked degree of volatility yesterday. The CSE started trading on a positive note but by mid-day the market had turned negative, only to register some recovery during the latter part of the day. But the recovery could not be fully sustained, market analysts said. Market volatility could be traced to the worry among traders that the Chinese government is yet to respond
positively to the Sri Lankan government’s debt restructuring plan, although the Chinese Exim Bank responded positively to the IMF bailout proposition, analysts said. Stock market mid- day shares fell on
profit- taking after the market had continuously been on green after debt restructuring assurances by major creditors, an analyst said. “However, the anticipated rate cut wasn’t met and the
market over- reacted and moved to red, the analyst added.
Amid those developments both indices indicated a downward trend.The All- Share Price Index went down by 11.5 points and S and P SL20 declined by 2.78 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.2 billion with two crossings. Those crossings were reported in Melstacorp, where 594,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 29.7 million, its shares traded at Rs 50 and Horana Plantations 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 21 million, and its shares traded at Rs 70. In the retail market, top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, Lanka IOC Rs 269 million (1.3 million shares traded),Softlogic Life Insurance Rs 147 million (1.3 million shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 122 million (eight million shares traded), LOLC Holdings Rs 71.9 million (158,000 shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 54.4 million (289,000 shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 41.9 million (six million shares traded) and JKH Rs 41 million (298,000 shares traded). It is said that high net worth and institutional
investor participation was noted in Agstar, Melstacorp and JKH. Mixed interest was observed in Lanka IOC, Expolanka Holdings and LOLC Holdings, while retail interest was noted in LOLC Finance, Browns Investments and Softlogic Capital.
The Materials sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Agstar), while the sector index gained 0.18 per cent. The share price of Agstar increased by 50 cents (3.23 per cent) to
close at Rs.16. The Diversified Financials sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to LOLC Holdings), while the sector index increased by 2.16 per cent. The share price of LOLC Holdings appreciated by Rs. 21.75 (5.11 per cent) to close at Rs. 447.25. During the day 41 million share volumes changed hands in 14000 transactions.