The benchmark All Share Price Index (ASI) lost 40.48 points to close at 3724.59 while Milanka Index which is represents more liquid stocks lost more than 2 % to close at 4270.73. Turnover was 904.26 million rupees.

The sharp fall in Environmental Resources Investments Plc (GREG) was the main contributor for today’s market decline.    GREG ordinary shares closed 56.50 lower at Rs 102.50 while GREG – W0001 warrants lost 80.75 to end the day at Rs 63.00. Market heavy weight Dialog Telekom was down by 25 cents to close at Rs 6.75 while wire line telecom provider Sri Lanka Telecom Plc closed 75 cents lower at Rs 36.25. Sampath Bank was down by 6.25 to close at Rs 222.00.

Aitken Spence Plc the diversified Blue Chip was up by 48.75 to close at Rs 1373.75 while rarely traded Kalamazoo Systems Plc gained 95.50 to close at Rs 945.50. Nestle Lanka Plc closed at Rs 490.00, up 10.75.

There were 60 positive contributors & 69 losers during the day. Foreigners were net sellers with Rs 237.4 million in sales & Rs 181.3 million purchases.

Vallibel Finance IPO was closed today due to oversubscription. Vallibel Finance Limited issued 5.2 million shares at Rs 22/- per share to the public.

 Week ended 26^th March 2010.

There were large foreign to local transactions completed during the week. With Thursdays Hatton National Bank transaction Sri Lanka Government increased their holding in HNB roughly to 25%. Total equity turnover increased to 10.44 billion rupees from 7.86 billion in previous week. All Share Index closed at 3773.76, up 28.84 points for the entire week. Milanka Index managed to gain 72 points to end the week at 4391.22. Foreign net outflow amounted to 5.43 billion rupees.

In Fridays trading highly capitalized JKH managed to gain eight rupees to close at Rs 186.00. Total market capitalization stood at Rs 1221.9 billion rupees compared to Rs 1210.7 billion in last week.

Market will fluctuate within narrow range until General Election is over. Investors should invest in fundamentally strong stocks & not in speculative stocks. It will definitely bring positive results in long run.  

Market will reopen for next week trading on 30^th March 2010 as 29^th Monday is a public holiday (Full Moon Poya Day).

Two US based funds sold their Holdings in Hatton National Bank (HNB) to SL Government controlled institutions. More than 25 million shares of HNB traded during the day & closed 25 cents lower at Rs 180.25. Today’s turnover was Rs 5.71 billion.

ASI reported gain of 7.71 points to close at 3730.43 while more liquid Milanka Index closed 16.45 points higher at 4337.05

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc also traded in large quantities but closed unchanged at Rs 195.00. Lake House Printers & Publishers Plc was up by 10.50 to close at Rs 81.50. Sathosa Motors Plc gained 12 rupees to close at 143.00.

Environmental Resources Holdings Plc dipped by 13.00 to end the day at Rs 241.50. Elpitiya Plantations Plc slipped 10.00 to close at Rs 33.75. Aitken Spence Plc was down by Rs 7.75 to close at Rs 1378.25. Colombo Dockyard Plc closed 3.25 lower at Rs 284.50.

Market has experienced huge foreign outflow with 465.4 million purchases & their sales amounted to massive Rs 5.22 billion mainly due to foreign sell off in HNB shares.

Market fluctuated within narrow range & ASI closed 12.33 points lower at 3730.67 while MPI, the index that represent more liquid stocks closed 3.48 points lower  to close at 4321.06. Turnover was amounted to 1.21 billion rupees.

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka Plc the managers of Raigam Wayamba Salterns IPO has informed CSE that the said IPO was oversubscribed & will closed at 4.30 PM today.

Ceylon Tobacco Plc a unit of British American Tobacco closed at Rs 245.00, up five rupees. Rarely traded Harishchandra Mills Plc was up by 61.75 to close at Rs 941.75. Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc gained 1.25 to close at Rs 191.50.

Diversified Blue Chip John Keells Holdings Plc (JKH) ended the day unchanged at Rs 170.00. Over 4.4 million shares of JKH traded during the day.

The Bukit Darah Plc lost 65.00 to close at Rs 3000.00 while Metropolitan Resource Holdings Plc (another rarely traded company) closed the day 26.25 lower at Rs 42.50. Sri Lanka Telecom lost 50 cents to close at Rs 36.00 while Dialog Telekom closed flat at Rs 7.25. Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Plc also dipped by one rupee to end the day at Rs 112.75.

 Foreign investors were net buyers today with Rs 655.9 million worth of purchases & Rs 346.1 million sales.

Investors were in wait & see attitude due to upcoming General Election & Sinhala / Tamil new year.

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Market fell marginally. ASI lost 10.27 points to close at 3744.92 while MPI lost 0.37 points to close at 4319.22. Turnover was 576 million rupees.

John Keells Holdings Plc was up by two rupees to close at Rs 172.00 while diversified Blue Chip Hayleys Plc was up seven rupees to close at Rs 230.00 but only 100 shares traded during the trading session.

Singlanka Standard Chemicals Plc was down by 80 rupees to close at Rs 110.00 while The Bukit Darah Plc lost 55.25 to close at Rs 3037.25. Nestle Lanka Plc lost 17.00 on 100 shares to close at Rs 451.00. Fixed line telecom giant Sri Lanka Telecom Plc was down by 50 cents to end the day at Rs 36.00.  

Today’s foreign activity was very low as they purchased Rs 55.2 million worth of stocks & sold stocks valued at Rs 76.2 million.

The First Capital Holdings Plc (CFVF) has announced sub division of shares. The sub division will be effected by splitting every one existing voting ordinary share in to three voting ordinary shares. After sub division there will be no change in stated capital of the company.  

Now you can download both Raigam Wayamba Salterns & Vallibel Finance IPO applications / Prospectus by visiting cse.lk website. Download links were placed at the bottom right hand side of the home page.

There was 2.15 billion rupee turnover at CSE today. However ASI slipped 17.21 to close at 3768.29 while MPI closed 11.89 points lower at 4327.45. Turnover boosted by over 13 million share transactions in The Light House Hotel Plc (LHL). LHL closed the day 19.50 lower at Rs 60.75.

Singer Industries (Ceylon) Plc lost 41 rupees to close at Rs 84.00 but only 100 shares traded during the day. Sunshine Holdings Plc was down by 35.00 to end the day at Rs 389.50.

There were 90 losers & only 46 gainers during the day.

Ceylon Tobacco Sri Lanka’s only cigarette producer gained eight rupees to close at Rs 8.00 while Ceylon Leather Products Plc also up by eight rupees to close at Rs 96.00. First Capital Holdings Plc (CFVF) closed at Rs 58.50, up two rupees.

Meanwhile Hayleys Plc has offered mandatory offer to acquire all remaining shares of Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc in terms of Take-overs & Mergers code of 1995.

Foreign sales exceeded the purchases & net out flow was 262.22 million rupees.

John Keells Hotels Plc (KHL) shares slipped after its parent company (JKH) sold off the rights in order to reduce the percentage of holding. JKH sold rights valued Rs 750 million. KHL closed seven rupees lower at Rs 18.50.

Colombo All Share Index was down by 60.71 points to close at 3782.84 while Milanka Index lost massive 104.22 points to end the day at 4335.39. Turnover was 2.14 billion rupees.

Shares of Ceylon Tea Brokers (CTBL) commenced today & gained significantly to close at Rs 4.50. In early trading it was traded as high as Rs 5.25. CTBL shares issued to the public at Rs 2/- per share in last month.   

Most of Malaysian palm oil companies that belongs to Carsons Group lost their value today. Selinsing Plc was down by fifty rupees to close at 400.00 while The Indo Malay Plc dipped 20 rupees to end the day at Rs 400.00. Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc closed at Rs 240.00, down five rupees. Sri Lanka Telecom Plc lost one rupee to close at Rs 36.75 while Dialog Telekom closed at Rs 7.00, down 25 cents.

Aitken Spence Plc was up by 20.00 to close at Rs 1385.00 but only 200 shares traded. Confifi Hotel Holdings Plc gained 12.00 to close at Rs 186.75.

You can download Rigam Wayamba Salterns LTD IPO prospectus & application forms by visiting cse.lk web site.

According to the Stock Exchange information, the controlling stake (51%) of Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc (Ceylon Continental Hotel) was bought by Heyleys Plc for 1.88 billion rupees.

The sellers are

Name of the seller                                                                           No of shares sold

This acquisition will greatly benefit Heylyes group as Sri Lanka’s tourist industry is already booming. Ceylon Continental Hotel is situated in the heart of the Colombo City.

The bench mark All Share Index closed 12.54 points higher at 3844.84 while Milanka Price Index closed at 4432.80, up 4.74 points. Turnover was 2.87 billion rupees.

Heyleys Plc was up by 7.25 to close at Rs 236.00 while East West Properties gained one rupee to close at Rs 13.25 & over five million shares traded during the day. The HDFC bank shares closed at Rs 152.25, up ten rupees with the announcement of the claim they have made on EPF loans. Lanka Orix Leasing Company was up by 3.75 to close at Rs 166.75 while People’s Leasing Plc was closed at Rs 43.25, up 4.25.

Mercantile Shipping Company Plc lost 16.75 to close at Rs 150.00 but only 100 shares traded during the trading session. National Development Bank was dipped by three rupees to end the day at Rs 215.00.

Today foreign sales were huge at Rs 1.69 billion & purchases only amounted to Rs 94 million.

Sri Lankan stocks recorded healthy gains with strong turnover at the end of Thursday’s trading. ASI was up by 31.08 points to close at 3832.30 while MPI which represents most liquid stocks of the market also up by 42.39 points to close at 4428.06. Turnover was 1.24 billion rupees.

Environmental Resources Investments Plc (GREG) was up by 13.50 to close at Rs 264.75 while John Keells Holdings Plc closed at Rs 167.75, up 1.25. Index heavy Sri Lanka Telecom closed the day 75 cents higher at Rs 37.25. The diversified liquor producer closed at Rs 117.00, up one rupee.

Over four million shares of Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc traded today & closed one rupee higher at Rs 21.00 while 3,761,400 shares of Janashakthi Insurance Company Plc traded & closed at Rs 14.00, up one rupee.

Sunshine Holdings Plc lost 36.50 to close at Rs 599.75 while MTD Walkers Plc was down by 21.75 to close at Rs 420.50. Touchwoods Investments Plc lost 2.50 to end the day at Rs 113.50.  

Foreign investors were net sellers with Rs 408.52 million sales & Rs 300.2 million purchases.