ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka stocks gained on Friday for the second session, with the market continues to stabilize after profit taking in two session early this week, dealers said.
The main All Share Price Index (ASPI) rose 0.73% or 65.18 points to 8,975.57, on Friday. It hit more than four-month high before falling mainly on profit taking after it gained nearly 2,000 points in 12 straight sessions through Monday.
Analysts said the buying interest in energy sector and plantation-related stocks still continuing after investors have shifted from top liquid shares, analysts said.
The market generated 3.1 billion rupees in turnover, nearly equal to this year’s average daily turnover of 3.13 billion rupees. On Thursday, the turnover slumped to more than two-week low.
Sri Lanka has already declared sovereign debt default on April 12 this year and failed to pay its first sovereign debt in May amid a deepening economic crisis which later turned into a political crisis and led to a change in the president, cabinet, and government.
The more liquid S&P SL20 index ended 0.05% or 1.62 points up at 2,963.95.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst fuel and economic crisis in its post-independence era and the economy is expected to contract more than 8 percent this year.
The main ASPI gained 16.1 percent in August so far after gaining 5.3 percent in July. It lost 9.3 percent in June, 23 percent in April, and 14.5 percent in March.
The market index has lost 27.1 percent so far this year after being one of the world’s best stock markets with an 80 percent return last year when large volumes of money were printed.
Net foreign inflow was 40 million rupees on Friday, but the total net foreign outflow so far this year is 1.05 billion rupees.
Investors are also concerned over the steep fall of the rupee from 203 to 370 levels so far in 2022.
Expolanka pushed the index up, closing 2.3 percent firmer at 223.7 rupees a share.
Sri Lanka Telecom closed 24.9 percent up at 52.7 rupees a share, and Cargills Ceylon gained 7.9 percent to 179.7 rupees. (Colombo/Aug19/2022)
The world’s best stock market was promoted with fraud, and corruption and with political blessings. The Stock Market floor was covered with blood after many trusting and well intention-ed investors were sacrificed on the alter of greed. All stock brokers are guilty and even the EPF was saddled with junk at a premium and are still holding them and abandoned, no justice, that is the irony of it all. Remember the words of JRJ when he opened the market, his style, and said “Let The Robber Barons Come”. His pet is running the country now.