ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s shares fell in mid day trade Wednesday (4), due to the increases in excise duties on fuel pushing down shares, analysts said.
” The overall market is down because of the excise duties on fuel, slowing down investor interests,” an analyst said.
Sri Lanka’s fuel price was revised on January 2, state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) reduced price of auto diesel by 3.5 percent or 15 rupees to 405 rupees a litre and kerosene by 2.7 percent or 10 rupees to 355 rupees with effect from Monday midnight. The only competitor Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, also reduced the prices in line with CPC.
After the price revision was made, LIOC gained investor interest and was a top gainer in previous sessions.
However, a statement released CPC showed that the excise duties were raised, the duty on a liter of Petrol increased from Rs. 27/- to Rs. 52/- and the duty on a liter of Super Diesel increased from Rs. 13/- to Rs. 38/-
“This drove down the investor interest and the market saw panic selling, after the statement was released.”
All Share Price Index ( ASPI ) was down by 0.52 percent or 44.16 points to 8467.38, while the most liquid share S&P SL20 was down by 0.68 percent or 18.07 to 2,634.61 .
The market generated a turnover a 1 billion rupees within the first hour of trade.
The top losers at 1130 hours were Lanka IOC, Expolanka and Melstacorp. (Colombo/Jan04/2023)
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