ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka stocks closed up 0.04 percent Friday despite month-end selling pressure, brokers said.
The ASPI closed up 0.04 percent or 7.52 points at 17,122.73; while the more liquid S&P SL20 Index closed down 0.23 percent or 12.03 points at 5,114.35.
“Month end selling interest is there, but towards the end of the day buying increased,” Dimantha Mathew, Chief Research and Strategy Officer at First Capital Holdings PLC, told EconomyNext.
“Mixed selling pressure and buying pressure are coming into the market at gradual intervals,” Mathew said.
“Market is at a stagnant position though there is a lot of investor interest.”
“Banking and diversified counters of bluechip companies have attracted interest.”
LOLC Finance ended 2.9% stronger at 7.00, Commercial Bank closed up 0.3% at 148.50, and DFCC Bank was up 0.2% at 129.75.
The capital goods sector also (1.7 billion rupees) attracted investor interest.
“The relaxing of the vehicle import ban has made a sizeable impact in the finance sector,” Mathew said.
“Teejay released its results yesterday. Market is reacting to it.” The share rose 3.8% to 54.30 rupees.
Top contributors to the ASPI were Central Finance Company (ended 3.2% stronger at 220.25), The Colombo port land and building (rose 20.8% at 67.50), Ambeon Holdings (climbed 11.6% at 92.50), Teejay Lanka, and Ambeon Capital (up 7.0% at 33.70).
The restarting of some construction projects has drawn investor interest to Access Engineering, Mathew said.
Most active volumes were seen in Access Engineering at 26,929,875 (turnover 1,022,466,094.10 rupees), Brown Investments at 18,412,658 (turnover 166,270,145.30 rupees), Softlogic Capital at 18,260,516 (turnover 114,548,810.90 rupees) and Dialog Axiata at 10,801,770 (turnover 150,566,781.50 rupees).
Volatility was seen in the stock market during the day, with both indices falling in mid morning trade.
Turnover was 5.1 billion rupees, while the share volume fell 46 percent to 197,672,610.
Declining interest rates and doubled withholding tax has made the stock market attractive to investors in Sri Lanka.
There was a net domestic inflow of 405 million for the session.
Continuing the downward trend, a net foreign outflow of 405 million rupees for the day was recorded.(Colombo/Jan31/2025)
Continue Reading
