Colombo stocks quiet, JKH board meeting today

Colombo stocks were quiet in early trade on Wednesday with some interest in Lanka IOC mainly because global fuel prices are falling, brokers said.

There was interest in the outcome of the John Keells Holdings (JKH) board meeting which is on today to discuss the LMSL privatization judgement by the Supreme Court and the company strategy in this connection. “With fuel prices falling globally, Lanka IOC saw some buying interest,” a broker said. LIOC prices gained by Rs 1.75 with a block of 556,000 shares traded.

Turnover was modest in the morning at Rs 33.6 million while the All Share was up 20.9 points at 2,429.62 and the Milanka up by 38.56 points at 2,905.36. A little-known stock, Tess Agro also saw 817.300 shares being traded, up 10 cents at Rs 1.20.

JKH stocks didn’t trade this morning and brokers said interest was unlikely unless the company issued a statement with the outcomes at the end of today’s board meeting. Stock analysts said the market was also awaiting JKH’s quarterly to June 2008 results which are due any day, now. “This won’t contain any numbers relating to the LMSL privatisation issue and the offloading of its 20 percent stake in AMW. However there may be a post-balance sheet statement referring to these issues,” an analyst said. Hayleys is another stock that’s likely to pick up during the day with aggressive stockmarket trade Dhammika Perera picking up parcels as he keeps increasing his stake in the company.