CSE starts off in the green but sulks in bearish mode by mid-day

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

CSE shares fell over 1.5 per cent in mid-day trade yesterday after opening in the green, pushed down by Ceylon Tobacco Company, LOLC and Sampath Bank, market analysts said.

In the morning session the market started off on a bit of a bearish note after it witnessed a drop, because investors anticipated Lanka IOC second quarter results to show a notable profit. But it was reported to be less than expected. This resulted in dampening the spirits of most investors, which negatively impacted other stocks and a decline started at the end of the day’s trading, stock market analysts said.

Furthermore, the upcoming budget which is likely to be presented to parliament in November also created some panic among investors due to probable tax increases. Increasing of existing taxes is also possible to reach government revenue targets, market analysts said.

Amid those developments both indices were negative. All- Share Price Index went down by 169 points and S and P SL20 went down by 47 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 2.05 billion with a single crossing. The crossing was reported in Kahawatte Plantations, which crossed 1.55 million shares to the tune of Rs 58.9 million, its shares traded at Rs 38.

In the retail market, top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; JKH Rs 423 million (3.3 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 368 million (two million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 296 million (two million shares traded), CIC Holdings (non -voting) Rs 88.4 million (1.3 million shares traded), Agsta PLC Rs 63.3 million (3.2 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 58.3 million (9.9 million shares traded) and CIC Holdings (voting) Rs 53.2 million (561,000 shares traded). During the day 69.2 million share volumes changed hands in 18375 share transactions.

Ross Dairies recently acquired Watawala Plantations’ fresh milk arm, Watawala Dairy, which operates the ‘Pride of Lonach’ brand of pasteurized farm fresh milk.

The ownership, management, distribution and production of the brand has been formally transferred to Ross Dairies effective September 16, 2022.

A subsidiary of the Conmix Group of Companies, Ross Dairies has owned and operated a model farm with Australian heifer cows in the Matale District since 2017.

Sampath Bank has announced plans to raise Rs. 10 billion via a Basel III compliant debenture issue.

Yesterday, the Central Bank- announced US dollar buying rate was Rs 360.71 and selling rate Rs 371.26.