Crossings account for 61.4% of the turnover

Indices closed in red due to price losses in counters such as John Keells Holdings, Commercial Bank and Hemas Holdings with the turnover crossing Rs 1.3 Bn. Crossings were witnessed in National Development Bank, John Keels Holdings, Teejay Lanka, Hatton National Bank and Sampath Bank accounting for 61.4% of the turnover. Retail interest was noted in Access Engineering. Furthermore, foreigners remained active closing as net buyers mainly due to foreign buying in National Development Bank. Foreign purchases accounted for 53.5% of the turnover.

Banks, Finance and Insurance sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to National Development Bank, Sampath Bank and Hatton National Bank) whilst the sector index lost 1.90%. The share price of National Development Bank decreased by Rs 4.60 (4.40%) closing at Rs 100.00 whilst foreign holdings increased by 4,006,129 shares. The share price of Sampath Bank recorded a loss of Rs 5.00 (2.17%) to close at Rs 225.00. The share price of Hatton National Bank appreciated by Rs 0.70 (0.32%) to close at Rs 219.70.

Diversified sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to John Keells Holdings) whilst the sector index decreased by 2.08%. The share price of John Keells Holdings lost Rs 5.00 (3.33%) to close at Rs 145.00.

Teejay Lanka was also included amongst the top turnover contributors. The share price of Teejay Lanka closed flat at Rs 33.50.

Furthermore, C T Holdings and C T Land Developments announced their interim dividends of Rs 1.80 and Rs 1.00 per share respectively.