Year ends on a positive note

The price gains in counters such as Aitken Spence, DFCC Bank and Asiri Hospital Holdings resulted in ASPI closing in green whilst turnover crossed Rs 326 Mn. A similar behavior was witnessed in S&P SL20. High net worth and institutional investor participation was witnessed in John Keells Holdings. Mixed interest was observed in Commercial Bank and Access Engineering whilst retail interest was noted in Amana Bank and Swisstek. Meanwhile, foreigners remained active closing as net buyers mainly due to foreign purchasing in John Keells Holdings. Total foreign purchases accounted for 40.8% of turnover.

The benchmarks ASPI and S&P SL20 recorded losses of 5.54% and 11.33% for year 2015 respectively.

Diversified sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index gained 0.38%. The share price of John Keells Holdings closed flat at Rs 178.50 whilst foreign holdings increased by 882,706 shares.

Banks, Finance and Insurance sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Commercial Bank, Sampath Bank and Softlogic Capital) whilst the sector index increased by 0.59%. The share price of Commercial Bank lost Rs 2.50 (1.60%) to close at Rs 140.50. The share price of Sampath Bank recorded a gain of Rs 2.50 (2.79%) to close at Rs 250.00. The share price of Softlogic Capital closed flat at Rs 6.90.

Access Engineering was also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Access Engineering moved up by Rs 0.90 (0.51%) to close at Rs 23.20.

Furthermore, Ceylon Tobacco Company announced an interim dividend of Rs 5.00 per share.