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By Ravi Ladduwahetty

The Colombo bourse will rise dramatically in the event of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's address to the nation today being on a conciliatory tone and is an agreement to cohabit with the United National Front Government, market analysts told the Daily News yesterday.

They said that the performance of the bourse and the foreign and local buying will be driven in the short and the longer term with strategic buying by local and foreign investors if the President and the Government are willing together without rancour and acrimony. It all depends on what the President's address will contain, they said.

It is also almost certain that the President will not dissolve Parliament on December 5 in the light of the three minority parties- the Government's coalition partners - the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress the Ceylon Workers' Congress along with the Tamil National Alliance pledging their support for a continuity of the current Parliament, and the acceptance of the theory co-habitation was the phenomenon that the market was driven on Monday, which saw the highest growth of the All Share Price Index (ASPI) and the Millanka Price Index ( MPI). The ASPI rose by 6.84 points from 179.46 to 186.30 points while the MPI rose 7.42 points from 137918 to 1386.60 points.

The growth of the market will also be fuelled in the event of the strategic buying by investors Dhammika Perera, Dr. Sena Yaddehige and Rusi Captain.

They also said that most of the sellers in the bourse were waiting in earnest for the President's address to sell their stocks in the event they picked up, if the First Lady's speech was growth friendly.

Meanwhile, the trading at the Colombo bourse saw the ASPI rising to 786.3 points, up by 6.84 points.

The MPI also rose 7.42 points to 1318.6 points However, the turnover declined to Rs. 92.8 million.

The highlight of yesterday's purchase was Rs. 17.5 million while the foreign sales amounted to Rs. 4.5 million. Another salient feature of the market was that shares of four Regional Plantation Companies- (RPCs) - Hapugastenne, Namunukula and Bogawathalawa also rose.

Yesterday's trading was largely retailer driven with a slab of 545,500 Kelani Tyres shares which closed at Rs. 10.50 as there was speculation fuelled in the market that a substantial stake of the monopoly tyre manufacturer would be sold at Rs. 20. There was also a parcel of 346,000 shares of Grain Elevators which was sold at Rs. 18, 378,000 slab of Asian Hotels which closed at Rs. 11.25, two slabs of 250,000 each, Asia Capital and LB Finance which closed at Rs. 11.50 and Rs. 10.25 respectively.

The top ten gainers yesterday were: Soy Foods which rose Rs. 5 to Rs. 15.25, Cargo Boat which rose Rs. 5.50 to Rs. 28, Equity II which rose Rs. 2 and closed at Rs. 12, Colombo Fort Investments which rose Rs. 2 and closed at Rs. 12, Muller and Phipps which rose 25 cents and closed at Rs. 1.50, Colombo Investment Trust which rose Rs. 2 and closed at Rs. 12.50, Keells Food Products which rose Rs. 1.50 and closed at Rs. 13.50, Hapugastenne Plantations which rose Rs. 1.25 to close at Rs. 8.25, Namunukula which rose Rs.1.25 and closed at Rs. 8.25, Bogawantalawa which rose Rs. 1.75 and closed at Rs. 16.75.

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