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CSE Highs and Lows

08 May 2022

Following the sharp turnaround observed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) during the last week of April, there was plenty of optimism leading up to last week that the upward trend would continue. However, the long weekend due to the public holidays on Monday (2) and Tuesday (3) appeared to have dulled market sentiments as the market trended south during the week.  When the market opened on Wednesday (4), the All Share Price Index (ASPI) initially surged upwards before losing momentum and collapsing by around 150 points by 11.00 a.m. However, by the close of the day, the ASPI had trended upwards to close at 7,598 points, down only by 26.22 points (down 0.34%) from the previous day’s close of 7,624.26 points. A similar, lacklustre movement was observed in the Standard & Poor’s Sri Lanka 20 (S&P SL20) index which ended the day flat, up 1.75 points at 2,510.99 points from the previous day’s close of 2,509.24 points.  Market turnover on Wednesday was healthy at around Rs. 1.1 billion with over 46.8 million shares traded. Market activity during the day was largely dominated by Expolanka Holdings PLC (EXPO) which accounted for 40% of the turnover volume, followed by LOLC Holdings PLC (LOLC) and Lanka IOC PLC (LIOC). In terms of positive contributions to the ASPI, EXPO led the way with 21.2 points, followed by LIOC with 10.4 points, CT Holdings PLC (CTHR) with 6.1 points, and Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) with 5.7 points.   A similar trend was observed on Thursday (5) as well, with the ASPI initially surging upwards during the first few minutes before turning south. By the end of the day the ASPI was down 30.49 points (down 0.40%) from the previous day’s close of 7,598.04, closing at 7,567.55 points. However, the downward movement in the S&P SL20 index was much more significant as it fell by over 1.25% to 2,479.51 points from the previous day’s close of 2,510.99 points.  The volatility in the market on Thursday (5) was largely due to the downward movement of EXPO which accounted for 27% of the total turnover volume, followed by LIOC and John Keells Holdings (JKH). Market turnover during the day was Rs. 0.8 billion with around 74.0 million shares traded. The positive contributors to the ASPI on Thursday were Ceylinco Insurance PLC (CINS) which contributed 64.0 points, followed by JKH with 20.2 points, and Cargill’s PLC (CARG) with 3.6 points.  Notable developments in the bourse during the week included Harischandra Mills PLC announcing dividends of Rs. 25 per share on Wednesday with the Ex-Dividend (XD) date set for 13 May 2022. Furthermore, Union Chemicals Lanka PLC also announced the grant of dividends of Rs. 10 per share on Thursday with the XD date set for 16 June 2022. In addition, Nation Lanka PLC on Thursday announced via a CSE corporate disclosure that its Board of Directors had decided through a circular board resolution passed on 4 May 2022, to offer shares by way of a Rights Issue to existing shareholders. Accordingly, they will be issuing 2.9 billion new shares at Rs. 0.7 per share to raise Rs. 2.0 billion.  


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