Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Sri Lanka stock market continues to fall

Sri Lanka stock market continues to fall

Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 14:09 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

September 03, Colombo: Trading activity in the Colombo bourse ended on negative territory after having experienced positive momentum on the former part of the day. All Share Price Index (ASPI) was down by 6.63 points (0.28%) to close at 2393.71 while the liquid Milnaka Price Index (MPI) declined by a considerable 18.71 points (0.68%) to settle at 2750.58.

Turnover for the day touched Rs.182.91Mn. Conglomerate John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) recorded a crossing with 150,000 shares having traded at Rs.99.50. The counter was also the top contributor to turnover with Rs.25.43Mn. This share saw the end of the day at Rs.99.00. Aitken Spence PLC (SPEN) also experienced another large scale deal with a trade of 25,000 shares at Rs.470.00. John Keells Hotels PLC (KHL) was the most heavily traded counter with 1.38Mn shares. The counter signed off at Rs.7.50. Next in line volume wise were Sierra Cables Ltd. (SIRA), Vanik Incorporation Ltd. (VANI) and Lanka IOC PLC (LIOC) with 1.23Mn, 1.15Mn and 0.74Mn shares respectively.

Other contributors to turnover included LIOC, Chemical Industries Colombo PLC (CIC) and SPEN with Rs.18.67Mn, Rs.13.36Mn and Rs.11.75 respectively. Price gainers outdid the price losers numbering 62 to 49. Foreign focus remained tilted towards the selling side. However, a thinner net outflow of Rs.1.61 was witnessed. end.

(When Rajapakse became President (Installed by the Tamils), the stock market was 2550. The Sri Lankan currency has dropped or depreciated over 40 % against the Euro Dollar, and the public companies have dropped their profit margins as much as 50 %.

S.Lanka's Dialog drags bourse to 6-wk low
Wed Sep 3, 2008 4:45pm IST

By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares fell 0.28
percent to a six-week low on Wednesday, led by market
heavyweight Dialog Telekom DIAL.CM as investors sold it on
the expectation of lower profits from the blue-chip firm.

Dialog, Sri Lanka's top mobile phone operator, fell 2.27
percent to a new life closing low of 10.45 rupees a share,
calculated on a weighted average. It accounts for over 11
percent of the Colombo Stock Exchange's market capitalisation.

"Expectations on lower profitability in the company are
making investors move away from the stocks," Dharshi Ganeshan,
a research analyst at Bartleets Mallory Stockbrokers, said.

He said investors had expected a rebound once the shares
hit 11 rupees. "But, since the price is falling beyond 11
rupees, investors are selling the shares and moving to other
stocks."

On Aug. 13, Dialog posted a 78 percent fall in its June
quarter profit compared to the same period a year earlier. The
shares have fallen 17.3 percnt since then.

Traders and analysts said investors are worried about
rising competition among telecom firms and the expected
entrance of India's Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) into the market
this year.

The Colombo All-Share index .CSE fell 6.63 points to
2,393.71, its fourth straight fall and lowest close since July
25.

Top fixed-line telephone operator Sri Lanka Telecom
SLTL.CM closed 1.09 percent down at 45.50 rupees, while top
private lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon COMB.CM fell 0.83
percent to 120 rupees, both in thin trade.

The top conglomerate by market capitalisation, John Keells
Holdings JKH.CM, fell 0.75 percent to 99 rupees a share.
Traders said lingering sentiments from a court ruling last
month that is expected to cost the firm more than $12 milion
was behind the drop.

Shares in oil retailer Lanka IOC LIOC.CM closed 4.12
percent firmer to 25.25 rupees a share, following the easing in
global crude oil prices.

Market turnover was 182.9 million Sri Lankan rupees ($1.70
million), less than half of last year's daily average of 400
million rupees

Sri Lanka's central bank on Tuesday said it had dropped
policy rates as its main tool for managing inflation, after
seeing success with a reserve money targeting approach.

Chief Economist Nandalal Weerasinghe this week said the
rupee would have risen to beyond 100 per dollar if the central
bank had not intervened in the market by buying up $350 million
worth of rupees this year. Also see [ID:nCOL217317].

The rupee closed firmer at 107.65/68 per dollar from
Tuesday's close of 107.75/78 on high call money rates and
intervention from a state bank.

"A state bank bought dollars at 107.65 preventing the rupee
appreciation," a currency dealer said.

The interbank lending rate or call money rate CLIBOR rose
to around 18.5 percent before closing 16.994 percent, down
marginally from Tuesday's 17.062 percent.
(Editing by Bryson Hull)

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