Foreign sales account for 70% of turnover

The ASPI closed in red as a result of price losses in counters such as Brac Lanka Finance, Sri Lanka Telecom and John Keells Holdings with the turnover crossing Rs 419 Mn. A similar behaviour was witnessed in the S&P SL20. High net worth and institutional investor participation was witnessed in Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust, John Keells Holdings, Ceylon Investment and Dialog Axiata. Mixed interest was observed in Seylan Bank nonvoting. Furthermore, foreigners remained active closing as net sellers mainly due to foreign selling in John Keells Holdings and Ceylon Investment. Total foreign sales accounted for 69.5% of the turnover.

Investment Trusts sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust and Ceylon Investment) whilst the sector index gained 0.53%. The share price of Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust increased by Rs 2.00 (2.94%) to close at Rs 70.00. The share price of Ceylon Investment closed flat at Rs 37.50 whilst foreign holdings decreased by 1,566,136 shares.

Diversified sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index decreased by 0.39%. The share price of John Keells Holdings lost Rs 1.00 (0.75%) closing at Rs 132.00 whilst foreign holdings decreased by 447,084 shares.

Dialog Axiata and Sampath Bank were also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Dialog Axiata closed flat at Rs 11.80. The share price of Sampath Bank closed flat at Rs 240.00.

Furthermore, Millennium Housing Developers announced its final dividend of Rs 0.35 per share.