A ‘Super September’ for CSE as turnover tops Rs. 3 billion yet again

By Hiran H.Senewiratne 

The CSE gathered more momentum yesterday with over Rs. 3  billion turnover yet again and both indices rose in what some brokers hail as ‘Super September’, stock market analysts said.

The market was strong and steady and was driven by mainly retail investors. The banking sector appeared to be more attractive which was dull for a couple of weeks. It was witnessed that banking stocks appreciated by more than Rs. 4 or more and this gave a big boost to the S and P SL20 index which rose by three percent. All Share Price Index was up by 81.44 points and  S and P SL20 rose 77.92 points. 

Along with the Rs. 3.4 billion turnover one crossing took place, which was reported from Melstacorp. It is said that 893,000 shares belonging to Melstacorp crossed to the tune of Rs. 31.2 million and its share price traded at Rs. 35.

In the retail market top five companies that mainly contributed to the day’s turnover were;  Hayleys Fabrics Rs. 271 million (12.9 million shares traded), Tokyo Cement (Non Voting) Rs. 270 million (six million shares traded), Tokyo Cement (Voting) Rs. 254 million (4.7 million shares traded), Melstacorp Rs. 200.7 million  (5.8 million shares traded) and Commercial Bank Rs. 174 million (2.2 million shares traded). During the day, 146 million share volumes changed hands in 27512 transactions.

There was a 17 percent  unusual price appreciation witnessed in Hayleys Fabrics during the day. According to stock brokers there was no reason for the price appreciation for  Hayleys Fabrics, which started trading at Rs. 18.90 and at the end of the day it moved up to Rs. 22.10.  

High net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Hatton National Bank, Ceylon Cold Stores, Melstacorp and John Keells Holdings. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Tokyo Cement Company and ACL Cables, while retail interest was noted in Lanka IOC, Hayleys Fabrics and Renuka Agri Foods. 

Turnover increased by 10.2 percent  relative to the previous day, while the crossings amounted to 15.0 percent of the day’s total turnover.