The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) broke several records in 2009 – the year the 30 year-long civil war ended – with the two indexes rising sharply and the market capitalization crossing the Rs 1 trillion mark and closing the year at Rs. 1,092.1 billion, the highest in history.
In a statement, CSE Chairman Nihal Fonseka said the CSE completed its best year in history in 2009, overcoming the challenges experienced in 2007 and 2008 and quoting a international news agency, the CSE was the 2nd best performing stock market in the world last year.
Mr Fonseka said the All Share Price Index (ASPI), having experienced some volatility during the first few months of 2009, reached historical levels during the post-war period.
The index closed the year at 3,385.6 points, the highest level recorded in CSE history. The ASPI recorded a growth of 125.3% for the year 2009, the highest growth recorded by the index for any given year, surpassing the previous record of a growth of 118% for the year 1991. The post –war growth of the index was 77.7%.
The Milanka Price Index (MPI) closed the year at 3,849.4 points, the highest level reached by the MPI since May 2007. The index recorded a growth of 136% for the year 2009, also the highest growth recorded by the index for a given year, surpassing the previous high of 51.4% for the year 2006. The highest point recorded in history by the index was 4,214.8 points on 26th February 2007. The growth of the MPI since the completion of the war was 86.1%, he said.
The CSE also achieved the highest turnover for a given year by generating Rs.142.5 billion for the year 2009. The previous record was Rs.114.6 billion generated in the year 2005. The average daily turnover for the year is Rs.593.6 million, surpassing the previous high of Rs.481.5 million for the year 2005.
The number of transactions for a trading day also reached a milestone in 2009 when 15,290 trades were executed on 18th June 2009. The previous record was for 13,254 trades executed on 28th July 2005. The total number of transactions executed during the year 2009 of 1.27 million was the highest number of transactions recorded in CSE history.
The net foreign flows recorded an outflow in 2009 of Rs. 788.9 million, the first net outflow recorded since 2001. This was mainly due to the sale of significant holdings in several blue chips by an overseas fund management company that was winding down ts funds.
The fact that these divestments were easily absorbed by domestic investors without an adverse price impact was an encouraging factor. The largest net foreign inflow of Rs. 13.9 billion was recorded for 2008, Mr Fonseka said. |
E-mail