By Hiran H. Senewiratne
Shares in Sri Lanka fell at midday yesterday, dragged down by JKH, after a stronger open, but ended on a negative note on profit taking. However, a crossover or arranged deal from Expolanka Holdings was a foreign buy, which helped create some hope in the market, equity analysts said.
“Predominantly, global markets are also failing due to the pressure of the recession and also due to the appreciation of the US dollar against other currencies, particularly in the European Union, which has led to declines in other markets around the world, market analysts said.
“If the recession were to hit Europe and other countries in the region, it would impact our export-oriented businesses. Because the purchasing behavior of these countries would change drastically and, in the end, it would also affect local exports, the analysts added.
Amid these developments, both indices fell. The All-Share Price Index fell 120.6 points and S and P SL20 fell 34.7 points. The turnover amounted to Rs 4.5 billion, with four crossings.
Crossovers were reported in Expolanka Holdings, which crossed 7.5 million shares at Rs 1.7 billion and its shares traded at Rs 228, JKH 552,000 shares crossed at Rs 78.4 million, its shares traded at Rs 142, Dialog 6.8 million shares crossed at Rs 60.6 million, his shares reached Rs 8.90 and Richard Pieris 883,000 shares crossed at Rs 29.3 million, his shares were trading at Rs 33.20.
In the retail market, the top seven companies which mainly contributed to the turnover were Lanka IOC Rs 464 million (1.6 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 346 million (1.5 million shares traded ), ACL Cables Rs 163 million (1.5 million shares traded), Renuka Agri Foods Rs 160 million (20.5 million shares traded), JKH Rs 91.3 million (148,000 shares traded), Richard Pieris Rs 89.4 million (2.8 million shares traded) and Aitken Spence Rs 79.1 million (599,000 shares traded). During the day, 121 million stock volumes changed hands in 27,000 stock trades.
Yesterday, the rate of buying the dollar announced by the Central Bank was 359.18 rupees and the selling rate was 369.93 rupees. However, the pound has fallen to a record low against the dollar as markets react to the UK’s biggest tax cuts in 50 years. Early in Asian trading, the pound slid just US$1.04 before regaining ground to around US$1.05.
