The Colombo Stock Exchange closed lower for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, with elevated oil prices keeping sentiment cautious.
The All Share Price Index fell 51.79 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 21,262.13, while the S&P SL20 shed 17.66 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 5,976.67. All three outlets reporting the session — the Daily Mirror citing Almas Equities Research, EconomyNext and Hiru News — give those figures identically. Brent crude remained around USD 105.68 a barrel.
The turnover figure is misleading
Headline turnover was Rs. 2.23 billion on 55.82 million shares. But the Daily Mirror reports that crossings accounted for roughly 52 per cent of it, dominated by a single Lanka Milk Foods block: 10 million LMF.N shares at Rs. 84.50, worth Rs. 845 million. LMF alone accounted for Rs. 872.57 million — about 39 per cent of the day’s entire turnover.
Hiru adds the figure that puts this in perspective: the year-to-date daily average turnover is Rs. 3.86 billion. Strip out the crossings and ordinary trading came to roughly Rs. 1.07 billion — under a third of a normal day’s activity. Turnover was not high; one negotiated deal made it look that way.
Hiru also puts the indices 6.02 per cent (ASPI) and 2.93 per cent (S&P SL20) lower year-to-date.
Where the accounts diverge
Market breadth was negative on every account, but the counts differ: the Daily Mirror has 71 gainers against 132 decliners, Hiru 67 against 122. Foreign investors were net sellers of Rs. 63.05 million, per the Daily Mirror.
The contributor lists do not reconcile. EconomyNext and Hiru independently name the same three drags — Dialog Axiata (−2.95% at Rs. 46.00), Melstacorp (−0.81% at Rs. 184.75) and Commercial Bank (−0.49% at Rs. 204.00). The Daily Mirror instead lists Dialog Axiata, Ceylinco Insurance, Lion Brewery, Melstacorp and John Keells Holdings.
Lion Brewery is a direct contradiction: the Daily Mirror ranks it among the largest negative contributors, while EconomyNext records it as a gainer, up 1.25 per cent at Rs. 1,780.00. A stock that rises cannot drag the index down, and EconomyNext and Hiru agree against the Daily Mirror here. Readers should treat the index levels and turnover as firm and the Daily Mirror’s contributor ranking as unverified.
Separately, EconomyNext reports that a mandatory offer for Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) fell through after the Securities and Exchange Commission refused to clear a share transfer, the company having been placed on the CSE Watchlist for non-compliance.
The session extends the selling that began the week on Monday, when the ASPI closed at 21,313.92.
