Market reverts to red over profit booking amidst poor turnover

Bourse reverted to the red zone snapping the continuous 8-day winning spree and closed at 11,632 losing 92 points as investors turned to book profits following price escalations during the previous week. Soon into the market opening ASPI dipped low as market participants resorted to profit-taking predominantly on Banking counters while the SRR cut to 2.0% further induced selling pressure, as investors anticipated a contraction in the interest rate spread with rates declining in the market.

Small and mid-cap counters including MELS and HHL witnessed some interest during the day while investors also showcased interest on Utilities counters considering the possibility of additional electricity demand requirements from Renewable Energy players. However, market turnover plunged to a 2-week low of LKR 2 Bn (-45% cf. monthly average of LKR 3.6Bn) with a joint contribution of 45% stemming from the Banking sector (26%) and Capital Goods sector (19%).

MELS and JKH led the overall turnover while MELS contributed LKR 223.1Mn (11%) and JKH contributed LKR 207.6Mn (11%). Meanwhile, SCAP dominated the market volume with 10.4Mn shares (14%) while ABL was the second largest contributor with 3.6Mn shares (5%). Overall volume marginally decreased compared to the previous session and recorded at 72.9Mn.

First Capital Research

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