The Colombo stock market closed Christmas Eve marginally up ahead of today’s holiday with crossings in John Keells Holdings accounting for 34% of turnover.
The ASPI closed 0.15% on the up, or 32.05 points to 21,959.05 and the S and P SL20 gained 0.07% or 4.17 points to 6,015.48. Turnover was over Rs. 4.1 billion on nearly 147.2 million shares traded. Foreign investors were net sellers on a net outflow of Rs. 331.3 million.
First Capital Research said the market remained at a stagnated level throughout the day, with the index showing occasional spikes in volatility but largely trading within a narrow range, indicating consolidation.
Top positive contributors to the ASPI were SFCL, SPEN, SAMP, BUKI and CARG with market activity largely driven by crossings, which accounted for 43.3% of the total turnover, while JKH drew significant interest from HNW investors through crossings, representing 33.9% of overall turnover. JKH closed unchanged at Rs. 21.
Retail investor participation remained moderate, with primary focus on DOCK.R and DOCK.N.
The Capital Goods sector accounted for 53% of total turnover, while the Diversified Financials and Banking sectors contributed a combined 14%.