Colombo Stock Exchange completed historic week.

CSE Top 5 Gainers & Losers for the week.

The week that ended on 30th July 2010 was a historic week for the CSE. Colombo main stock index ASI (All Share Price Index) crossed the important 5000 index points.

During the week ASI was up by 265.67 points to close at 5161.18. Milanka index gained 309.6 points to close the week at 5854.73. Total equity turnover for the week amounted to Rs 16.21 billion compared to 13.43 billion rupees reported previous week. Market PER increased to 21.62 from 20.50 last week.
Watapota Investments & GREG warrants were the highest percentage gainers for the week while Vidulanka, Asiri Central & Kuruwita Textile were among the highest percentage losers for the week.

In Banks Finance & Insurance sector, AVIVA NDB Insurance Plc was up by 77.50 to close at Rs 300.00 while Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) closed at Rs 400.00, up 75 rupees. Sri Lanka’s leading finance company Central Finance Plc was up by 57.75 to close at Rs 550.75. Sampath Bank closed at 12.75 higher at Rs 372.75.

Ceylon Cold Stores was the top gainer in Beverage Food & Tobacco sector while Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Plc closed at Rs 137.75, up 11.75.
Aitken Spence Plc was the highest positive contributor within Diversified Holdings sector with Rs 224.5 gain to close at Rs 1924.50 while John Keells Holdings Plc closed Rs 18.25 higher at Rs 248.25. Richard Peiris Company Plc was up by 23.75 to end the week at Rs 115.75.

Kelani Valley Plantation & Namunukula Plantation was the biggest gainers in plantation sector with the gains of Rs 16.25 & Rs 11.00 respectively.  Kelani Valley closed the week at Rs 121.00 while Namunukula closed at Rs 67.75.

The recently concluded IPO, ODEL Limited shares will commence trading on 4th August 2010. 144 950 000 shares of ODEL will be listed on the Diri Savi Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange& will be classified under Footwear & Textile sector. ODEL issued 16.7 million shares to the public at Rs 15/- per share early this month & oversubscribed 63 times than offered quantity. Investors are expecting ODEL shares will start trading above Rs 20/- per share.

CSE the World’s best performing stock market.

Chart - bloomberg.com

Colombo Stock Market hits new high today by crossing 5000 index points but closed just below the 5000 at 4999.05 up 55.52 points for the day. Milanla index also gained 73.29 points to close at 5669.19. Today’s total equity turnover was amounted to 2.30 billion rupees.

Index heavy weight JKH & SLT were the top two contributors for today’s gains. JKH was up by 5.50 to close at Rs 240.00 while SLT gained 75 cents to end the day at Rs 37.00. AVIVA NDB Insurance Plc was up by seventeen rupees to close at Rs 237.00. Ceylon Cold Stores Plc closed at 330.00, up 27 rupees. 

Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Plc was up by 1.25 with the release their annual report & closed at Rs 127.50. Dialog Axiata Plc closed unchanged at Rs 10.50 with over 16 million shares traded.  Dialog reported Rs 1.37 rupee profit for the last quarter after reporting repeated losses in previous few quarters.

Plantations stocks were still on bullish trend as Kegalle Plantations Plc was up by 5.50 to close at Rs 106.75 while Namunukula Plantations Plc closed 5.75 higher at Rs 66.75. Udapusellawa Plantations Plc closed at Rs 41.75, up 3.75.

Foreigners were net buyers today with 335.6 million purchases & Rs 279.4 million sales. Retailers are expecting more foreign funds will come in to the market within next few months. 

Another positive day for CSE.

CSE All Share Index (ASI) is getting closer to 5000 mark & hopefully it will cross this important index level within current week. ASI closed at 4943.53, up 48.02 points while MPI gained 50.77 points to close at 5595.90. Turnover was 2.09 billion rupees.

Diversified Blue Chip John Keells Holdings Plc was up by 4.50 to close at Rs 234.50 while Hemas Holdings Plc closed at Rs 38.00, up one rupee & over 2.1 million shares traded during the day. Cargils (Ceylon) Plc the owners of Sri Lanka’s largest Super Market chain, “Food City” was closed at Rs 141.50, up 9.25. Aitken Spence Plc the company with interest in hotels & travels, shipping sector closed at Rs 1800.00, up one hundred rupees. Rarely traded illiquid Watapota Investments Plc gained 200 rupees to close at Rs 1000.00 but only 200 shares traded.

Agalawatte Plantations Plc one of the plantation companies with substantial rubber plantations gained 1.75 to close at Rs 39.50 as international rubber prices continues to go up. Namunukula Plantations Plc was up by 4.25 to close at Rs 61.00.

Diesel & Motor Engineering Plc lost 20.75 to close at Rs 852.75 while Trans Asia Hotels Plc dipped by 20 rupees to end the day at 250.00. Eastern Merchants Plc lost 15.50 to close at Rs 209.50.

Foreign investors were net sellers with Rs 528 million sales & Rs 212.5 million purchases. At the end of the trading Market PER was 20.70.

PC House IPO.

PC House is one of the Sri Lanka’s leading IT company with dealership in world’s most reputable PC brads & software products in addition to own brand Panora PCs. PC House planed an IPO to raise Rs 629.5 million by issuing 57,233,334 shares at Rs 11.00 per share.

The boards of directors are confident on successfulness of the IPO due to prevailing positive stock market & the declining interest rate environment.
Company has shown positive growth even in difficult times & well positioned to show higher growth in coming years.

PC House initial public offer will be open on 5th August 2010 & there is a better chance to be oversubscribed on the same day. You can download PC House IPO application & prospectus using following links.

Application Form.
http://www.cse.lk/270808/pdf/pch_application_form.pdf

Prospectus
http://www.cse.lk/270808/pdf/pch_prospectus.pdf

We (Stock Market Today) are conducting an opinion poll on above IPO to get public idea about this new IPO. You can find the poll widget on the left hand side of this blog. Please select your choice & vote for it. Poll widget will be removed after closure of the said IPO.

The Colombo All Share index is to touch 5000 mark soon.

Colombo Stocks are still rising & ASI will cross the important 5000 index level within next few weeks. Sri Lanka shares experiencing tremendous growth since May 2009. Most analysts predicted major correction of the market early this year but it was never happened despite several minor market corrections which occurred time to time.

Today ASI gained 77.17 points (+1.63%) to close at 4806.43 while more liquid MPI ended the day at 5461.23, up 81.17 points. Turnover was 2.66 billion rupees.

Dialog & John Keells Hotels (KHL) were among the today’s major positive contributors. Dialog was up by 25 cents to close at Rs 9.75 while KHL gained 2.50 to close at Rs 22.50. John Keells Holdings Plc (JKH) also up by 3.00 to end the day at Rs 223.50. JKH has announced their intention to invest heavily in Sri Lanka’s hotel & tourism sector which is a booming industry in the county.

There were 126 gainers & 40 losers for the day. Environmental Resources investments Plc (GREG) lost 3.75 to close at Rs 97.75. Wire line telecom leader Sri Lanka Telecom Plc was down by 50 cents to close at Rs 35.75.

When market is getting overheated investors should avoid investing in speculative stocks. As June quarter results started coming in to the market, investors have to focus on fundamentally strong stocks with growth potential.

Online Stock Trading in Sri Lanka.

Online stock trading is not a new thing in Sri Lanka. I have been using it since year 2003. For me the main advantage of internet trading is I don’t have to call my broker to buy or sell shares. Sometimes brokers may extremely busy with telephone calls from clients, he or she has to deal with large number of customers during the trading hours.

For example imagine a day of highly oversubscribes IPO start first time trading in secondary market & you want to sell it on the first day. The first day that particular stock going too high then you calls your broker but you can’t contact your broker as all his telephone lines are too busy. Then that stocks starts to decline in few hour. So how do you feel now?

You can avoid this if you have online stock trading account. I myself faced for a situation which I described above.

What are the requirements to have online Stock Trading Facility?

·         A CDS account with an online trading supported broker.

·         A computer with an internet connection (Preferably a Broadband Internet connection).

·         The trading software that recommended & supported by your broker.

Who are the Brokers offer internet trading in Sri Lanka?

At present Internet Trading at the CSE is facilitated via eighteen broker Firms. They are as follows:

• Acuity Stock Brokers (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.cdax.lk
• Amana Securities Ltd
  Via http://www.asl.lk
• Asha Phillip Securities (Pvt) Ltd.
  Via http://www.ashaphillip.net
• Asia Securities (Pvt) Ltd.
  Via http://www.asiacapital.lk
• Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.bartleetstock.com
• Capital Alliance Securities (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.capitalalliance.lk
• Ceylinco Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd.
  Via http://www.ecsbl.com
• CT Smith Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.ctsmithonline.com
• Assetline Securities (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.dpgsonline.com
• First Guardian Equities (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.firstguardianequities.com
• DNH Financial (Pvt.) Limited
  Via http://www.hnbstock.com
• JB Securities (Pvt) Ltd.
  Via http://www.jbs.lk
• John Keells Stock Brokers (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.jkstock.keells.lk
• Capital Trust Securities (Pvt) Ltd.
  Via www.capitaltrust.lk
• Lanka Securities (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.lsl.lk
• S C Securities (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://online.sampathsecurities.lk/scswts
• SMB Securities (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://www.smblk.com
• NDB Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd
  Via http://online.ndbs.lk

Which software is the most popular online stock trading software in Sri Lanka?

Most probably it is CDAX (Colombo Direct Access Exchange). CDAX is very easy to use software that anyone can easily learn about it within less than an hour. Following brokers offer online trading with CDAX while others use different software.

• Asia Securities.
• Asha Philip Securities.
• Ceylinco Stock Brokers.
• Lanka Securities.
• Acuity Stock Brokers.
• Capital Alliance.
• SMB Securities .

So talk to your stock broker today and apply for an online stock trading account  & enjoy the freedom of stock trading from your own PC. No matter where ever you are in the world.

CSE bullish trend continues.

Colombo Stock Exchange continues to grow by adding another 38.49 index points to its main index ASI. ASI closed at 4638.71 while MPI closed at 5232.31, up 51.11 points. Total equity turnover for the day was Rs 2.15 billion.

Blue Chip John Keells Holdings Plc (JKH) was up by five rupees to close at Rs 211.00. More than 1.6 million shares of JKH traded today. Ceylon Tobacco Plc a subsidiary of global tobacco giant British American Tobacco Company gained 10.75 to close at Rs 325.00. Lanka Orix Leasing Company Plc closed at Rs 299.50, up ten rupees.

Lanka Tiles Plc lost 12.25 to close at Rs 100.50 on 1,976,500 shares. LB Finance was down by 3.75 to end the day at Rs 152.75 while National Development Bank (NDB) closed at Rs 240.25, down 2.50. J.L. Mrison Sons & Jones (Ceylon) plc closed twenty five rupees lower at 925.00 but only 100 shares traded.

CSE has approved the application of PC House Limited IPO to issue 57,233,334 shares at Rs 11/- per share. The subscription list of PC House IPO will open on 5^th August 2010.00. PC House is Sri Lanka’s one of the pioneer IT related company & they are the first company in Sri Lanka to make own branded PC called Panora for local & export market.

Index heavy stocks pushed CSE indices further up!

Indices of Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) gained further today. The main Index ASI closed 44.39 points higher at 4600.22 while MPI gained 43.17 points to close at 5181.20. Today’s total equity turnover was amounted to 1.73 billion rupees.

Swiss based Food Company Nestle Lanka Plc was up by 48.75 to close at Rs 699.75 on mere 100 shares. Aitken Spence Plc closed at Rs 1600.00, up 37 rupees while Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings Plc was up by 10.50 to close at Rs 421.00. The monopolistic Tobacco Company Ceylon Tobacco Plc gained 7.25 to end the day at Rs 314.25. Environmental Resources Investments Plc (GREG) closed at Rs 66.75, up 3.50.  

Dialog Axiata Plc closed unchanged at Rs 9.50. Meanwhile Sri Lanka Telecom Regulatory commission (TRC) is going to implement minimum price for mobile phone calls from tomorrow 15^th July 2010. It will stop the deadly price war between cellular phone companies including Dialog.

The Bukit Darah Plc lost 30 rupees to close at Rs 4100.00 while Abans Electricals Plc was down by 13.25 to close at Rs 132.75. Confifi Hotel Holdings Plc dipped eight rupees to end the day at Rs 210.00. There were 111 gainers & only 45 losers for the trading day.

Sri Lanka shares closes higher with fresh trading week begins.

The Sri Lanka’s main stock index ASI was up by 28.26 points to close at 4533.95 while MPI that represent more liquid stocks gained 11.06 points to close at 5105.85. Turnover was 1.13 billion rupees.

Aitken Spence Plc reported gain of Rs 62.75 to close at 1563.00 with the announcement of more investment in tourism sector of the country. Ceylon Leather Products Plc was up by 13.75 to end the day at Rs 227.75.   Sampath Bank closed four rupees higher at Rs 338.50. More than 1.4 million shares of John Keells Holdings Plc traded today & closed two rupees higher at 205.00.

Finlays (Colombo) Plc was down by fourteen rupees to close at 176.00 & over one million shares traded during the day. Asiri Central Hospital Plc lost 10.25 to close at Rs 180.00. DFCC Bank closed the day Rs 3.00 lower at 247.00.

Sri Lanka’s mobile telecom leader Dialog Telekom closed unchanged at Rs 9.50.

There were 75 positive contributors & 67 negative contributors for the day. Foreign investors were net buyers today with Rs 429.35 million purchases & Rs 198.40 million sales.    

As we mentioned our previous post we invite you to join our Colombo Stock Market Forum & vote for your preferred stock broker. It will be a great help for potential new investors to get the idea about Best Sri Lankan Stock brokers.

Sri Lanka stocks recovered quickly.

Colombo stocks recovered significantly today after losing first three days of the current week. The bench mark ASI closed 50.62 points or 1.13% higher at 4521.40 while the MPI which represents highly liquid stocks also recorded gain of 80.60 points or 1.60% to close at 5114.01. Today’s total equity turnover was amounted to 3.27 billion rupees.

Dialog, JKH & DFCC was the highest three contributors for today’s strong market recovery. Dialog closed at Rs 9.50, up 25 cents & JKH gained 3.25 to close at Rs 202.25. DFCC was up by 8.25 to close at Rs 254.75. Asiri Central Hospitals Plc was up by 34 rupees to end the day at 190.75.

More than six million shares of Sampath Bank traded today & closed at Rs 334.50, down 3.75. Sampath Bank transactions contributed 2.01 billion rupees towards total turnover.

120 stocks reported gains while only 38 stocks lost their value today. Foreign investors purchased Rs 233.03 million worth of stocks & sold stocks valued at Rs 269.9 million.    

Nothing will go up always.

The negativity prevailed throughout the trading day. Investors (new comers) should understand that they have to face ups & downs when they trade stocks. Colombo ASI fell 76.40 points or 1.68% to close at 4470.78 while Milanka index also lost 96.62 points (1.88%) to end the day at 5033.41. Todays turnover was 2.14 billion rupees.

Top contributors for today’s market fall.

Dialog Telekom lost 25 cents to close at Rs 9.25.

Bukit Darah Plc was down by 160.00 to close at Rs 4000.00.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc closed four rupees lower at Rs 178.00.

 DFCC dipped ten rupees to close at Rs 246.50.

John Keells Holdings Plc lost two rupees to close at Rs 199.00.

Total of 161 companies lost their value & only 12 companies managed to gain their value. Diesel & Motor Engineering Plc was up by 16.25 to close at Rs 717.50 while Asiri Central Hospitals gained 6.75 to end the day at Rs 156.75.

Meanwhile Forbs Plantations (Pvt) Ltd which holds 83.6% of the stated capital of Kahawatte Plantations Plc has informed the Company that out of its right entitlement of 16,697,043, its has sold 15,697,000 rights today at Rs 2/- per right, of which 15,553,600 rights had been purchased by Ceylon Tea Services Plc.

Negative start - Sri Lanka stocks falls on Monday!

Colombo ASI lost 35.17 points or 0.77% to close at 4558.48 while more liquid MPI lost 7.53 points to end the day at 5140.28.Today’s total equity turnover was amounted to 1.18 billion rupees. Shares in almost all the sectors except plantation sector declined today including highly capitalized blue chips.   

Dialog Telekom Plc lost 25 cents to close at Rs 9.50 while John Keells Holdings Plc was down by Rs 2.75 to close at Rs 201.75. Colombo Dockyard Plc lost 7.25 to close at Rs 262.75. The monopolistic tobacco company Ceylon Tobacco Plc was dipped by 5.25 to end the day at Rs 305.00.

105 companies reported price declines today while only 47 companies managed to gain their value. The plantation sector companies reported improvement today. Watawala Plantations Plc gained 3.50 to close at Rs 231.50 while Udapusellawa Plantation Plc closed at Rs 39.50, up 2.25. Kahawatte Plantations Plc closed at Rs 34.00, up 2.25. Balangoda Plantation was up by four rupees to close at Rs 42.00.

Meanwhile the latest IPO ODEL was oversubscribed today & closed at 4.30 PM. ODEL issued 16.7 million shares at Rs 15/- per share to the public.

Sri Lanka stocks closed unchanged with healthy turnover.

The bench mark Colombo All Share Index (ASI) closed at 4612.46 (-0.52 points) while Milanka Index (MPI) closed at 5278.35, down 21.73 points. Today’s total equity turnover was amounted to Rs 4.04 billion.

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) & Hamas Holdings (HHL) were the highest positive contributors today. SLT closed at Rs 37.00, up 50 cents while HHL closed at Rs 184.25, up 8.25. More than 7 million shares of Colombo Dockyard Plc traded today & closed Rs 6.25 higher at 278.00. Over 38.5 million shares of SIERRA Cable Plc traded during the day & closed at Rs 3.20, up 40 cents.     

John Keells Holdings closed unchanged at Rs 205.00 while Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Plc lost 75 cents to close at Rs 129.25. Sampath Bank Plc was down by 3.50 to end the day at Rs 359.25. The housing Bank HDFC lost 14.25 to close at Rs 281.25. Lanka Orix Leasing Company Plc closed Rs 8.75 lower at 286.25.

Foreigners were net sellers today by huge margin. Foreigners purchased Rs 485.35 million worth of stocks while they sold stocks valued massive Rs 2.12 billion.

Sri Lanka Stock Indices closed red as Blue Chips dips.

Colombo ASI lost 27.26 points to close at 4574.29 while Milanka Index closed at 5257.53, down 32.64 points. Total equity turnover was 2.52 billion rupees. Index heavy Dialog Telekom & Commercial Bank was the major negative contributors today. Dialog lost 25 cents to close at Rs 9.50 while Commercial Bank voting shares lost 4.75 to end the day at Rs 179.75.

Dankotuwa Porcelain Plc (DPL) gained massive Rs 18.50(+88.1%) to close at Rs 39.50. Investors were speculating that DPL will recover with new owners. Over 19.5 million shares of DPL traded today. Sri Lanka’s leading Finance Company Central Finance was up by 23.75 to close at Rs 499.00 while Asiri Hospitals gained ten rupees to close at Rs 140.00.

Abans Electricals Plc was down by 43.25 to close at 175.00. HDFC lost 16.50 to close at Rs 293.50. The Bukit Darah Plc lost 162.50 to end the day at Rs 4237.50.

Few individual stocks are already overvalued but we feel still we can find stocks with potential growth. Today’s market PER was 23.51. Foreigners were net buyers today with Rs 734.41 million purchases & Rs 285.93 million sales.

Colombo Stocks close 0.94-pct down.

Price declines in index heavy Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc (COMB) & John Keells Holdings (JKH) caused the Colombo indices to close lower today. ASI was down by 43.56 points to close at 4591.17 while the recently revised MPI index which represents more liquid stocks also down by 42.07 points to close at 5261.75.

SLT lost 1.50 to close at Rs 36.50 while diversified Blue Chip JKH closed two rupees lower at 203.25. Commercial Bank voting shares dipped by six rupees to end the day at 186.25 while its nonvoting stocks lost 4.75 to close at Rs 149.75.

Despite 1 for 1 rights announcement @ Rs 73/-, Ceylon Leather Products Plc closed 50 cents lower at Rs 232.75. Aitken Spence Plc was down by 23.25 to close at Rs 1620.00.

The undervalued Housing Bank HDFC was up by 13.00 to close at Rs 275.25 while LB Finance closed three rupees higher at Rs 135.00. Ceylon Cold Stores gained fourteen rupees on 900 shares to close at Rs 255.00.

Total of 122 companies lost their value today & only 44 companies made gains. Foreign investors were net sellers with Rs 1.10 billion sales & Rs 463.2 million purchases.

Sri Lanka stocks closed higher as Dialog Telekom gains.

Heavy gains in Dialog Telekom took the market to higher levels today. Index heavy weight Dialog was up by 75 cents or 8.11% to close at Rs 10.00 with over 16 million shares traded. ASI was up by 51.34 points or 1.11% to close at 4658.68 while MPI gained 68.29 points to close at 5339.76. Turnover was amounted to Rs 3.55 billion.

Swiss based Food Company Nestle Lanka Plc was up by 20.00 to close at Rs 650.00 while rarely traded Lanka Ashok Leyland closed at 1591.75, up 191.75. LB Finance Plc gained 12.25 to close at Rs 134.00. Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc was up by 5.50 to close at Rs 194.25 while its nonvoting shares ended at Rs 154.25, up seven rupees.

Colombo Dockyard Plc was down by 4.25 to close at Rs 265.75 while Hatton National Bank Plc dipped by 3.25 to close at Rs 290.75. Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings Plc lost four rupees to close at Rs 423.00. More than 3.5 million shares of John Keells Holdings Plc shares traded today & closed unchanged at Rs 205.00.

95 companies contributed positively while 65 stocks lost their value. Foreigners were net buyers today with Rs 775.8 million purchases & Rs 531.4 million sales.  

Sri Lanka’s stocks closed on a mixed note today.

Colombo ASI ended the week today marginally higher at 4607.34, up 3.98 points while MPI closed the opposite way at 5271.47, down 0.76 points. The Government has declared tomorrow the 18^th June 2010 as a public holiday to mark Victory Day (First Anniversary of ending the war against terrorism) celebration.  

Turnover was amounted to Rs 2.34 billion. Heavy trading reported in Dialog Telekom, Ceylon Grain Elevators Plc & Nawaloka Hospitals. Over 36 million Dialog Telekom shares changed hands today & closed 25 cents higher at Rs 9.25. Multinational food producing company Nestle Lanka Plc has gained 20.00 to close at 630.00 rupees on mere 100 shares. Sri Lanka’s only wire line telecom service provider Sri Lanka Telecom Plc closed at Rs 37.75, up 50 cents.

Nawaloka Hospitals Plc was up by 75 cents to close at Rs 7.25 while Chemical Industries (Colombo) Plc closed at 79.25, up Rs 1.25.  

Ceylon Tobacco was down by ten rupees to end the day at Rs 300.00 while Ceylon Brewery Plc closed the day Rs 5.00 lower at 225.00. Hatton National Bank lost one rupee to close at Rs 294.00.

There were 76 gainers & 65 losers for the day. Foreigners were still net sellers with Rs 143.1 million purchases & Rs 440.4 million sales.

Selling pressure starts with profit taking.

Colombo investors started to sell off stocks that recently gained significantly. ASI slipped marginally (6.07 points) to close at 4606.69 while MPI closed the day positively at 5271.03, up 13.95 points. Turnover was 1.67 billion rupees.

Sri Lanka’s leading Super Market operator Cargills Ceylon Plc lost 5.50 to close at Rs 134.75 while index heavy John Keells Holdings Plc closed the day one rupee lower at Rs 203.00. Swiss based Food Company Nestle Lanka Plc was down by 22.50 to close at Rs 610.00.

In Banks & Finance sector, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc was up by 5.25 to close at Rs 283.00 while DFCC Bank closed at RS 274.75, up one rupee. Sampath Bank lost 4.75 to close at Rs 340.00.

Over six million shares of Janashakthi Insurance Company Plc changed hands & closed 75 cents higher at Rs 15.50.

Strong Start!

Sri Lanka shares started the trading for fresh week with extremely positive note & ASI crossed the 4600 index mark. ASI was up by 51.43 points (+1.13%) to close at 4612.76 while MPI was up by 74.92 points to close at 5257.08. Total equity turnover amounted to 1.70 billion rupees.

Diversified blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) was the leading contributor for today’s Bull Run followed by Dialog Telecom Plc. JKH closed the day at Rs 204.00, up 3.75 while Dialog closed at Rs 9.00, up 25 cents. Due to heavy weight on indices JKH & Dialog can move indices significantly with small movement in their stock prices.

Sri Lanka’s only ship builder Colombo Dockyard Plc gained ten rupees to close at Rs 270.00. The monopolistic tobacco Company, Ceylon Tobacco Plc was up by ten rupees on 100 shares to close at Rs 310.00. Ceylon Leather Products Plc has gained 9.50 to end the day at Rs 240.00.

Rarely traded Colombo Pharmacy Plc lost 26.25 to close at Rs 400.00 while another illiquid company The Indo Malay Plc was down by 65.00 rupees to close at Rs 350.00 but only 100 shares traded during the day.  Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc lost 2.25 to close at 277.75 while Sampath Bank lost one rupee to close at Rs 344.75.

Total of 112 stocks gained today while 58 stocks lost their value.  There were marginal foreign outflow today with Rs 145.04 foreign purchases & Rs 146.81 million sales.

Colombo Stock Market Weekly Review.

Week ended 11^th June 2010.

Heavy interest in Banking & Diversified Holding sector drove the indices to new highs. ASI gained 203.13 to close the week at 4561.33 while MPI gained 213.82 points to close at 5182.16. Total equity turnover for the week amounted to Rs 13.13 billion rupees with an average daily turnover of Rs 2.62 billion. Total market capitalization stood at 1.486 trillion rupees, up by Rs 67.59 billion.

During the week Hatton National Bank Plc was up by 21 rupees to close at Rs 292.75 while DFCC Bank gained 15.25 to end the week at Rs 265.25. Commercial Bank was up by 13.25 to close at Rs 280.00.  National Development Bank was up by 14.75 to close at Rs 247.00.

On Friday Carson Cumberbatch Group has announced a restructuring plan on their plantation assets in other countries. Carson Cumberbatch Plc has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary to hold plantation assets. The name of that newly registered company is Goodhope Asia Holdings Ltd (GAHL) & it was registered in Singapore. Carson Group has announced improved results for the last financial year. Most of Carson Group stocks gained sharply on Friday.

In Hotels & Travels sector Trans Asia Hotel was up by 39 rupees to close at Rs 262.50 while Asian Hotels & Properties Plc closed at Rs 167.00, up 21.50.

Retailers may shift their investment trend from high valued stocks to low valued stocks (Midcap stocks) in coming days.

Foreigners were net sellers during the week with Rs 2.46 billion purchases & Rs 3.49 billion sales.