Foreign sales account for 66% of turnover

The ASPI edged up mainly due to price gains in Distilleries, Overseas Realty and Asian Hotels & Properties with turnover crossing Rs 530 Mn. Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 edged down. Crossings were witnessed in Melstacorp, Sampath Bank, Hemas Holdings,panasian Power and Distilleries, accounting for 60.1% of turnover. Mixed interest was observed in Dialog Axiata. Furthermore, foreigners remained active closing as net sellers mainly due to foreign selling in Hemas Holdings. Total foreign sales accounted for 65.6% of turnover.

Diversified sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Melstacorp and Hemas Holdings) whilst the sector index edged down by 0.06%. The share price of Melstacorp decreased by Rs 0.50 (0.83%) to close at Rs 59.50. The share price of Hemas Holdings closed flat at Rs 123.00 whilst foreign holdings decreased by 499,995 shares.

Banks, Finance and Insurance sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Sampath Bank) whilst the sector index edged up by 0.02%. The share price of Sampath Bank lost Rs 0.40 (0.13%) to close at Rs 298.60.

Distilleries and Panasian Power were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Distilleries moved up by Rs 1.19 (5.02%) to close at Rs 24.90. The share price of Panasian Power closed flat at Rs 2.80.