Dull market brings ASPI below 6000

During the holiday shortened week, the All Share Price Index (ASPI) decreased substantially by 268.27 points to close at 5,951.83 while the S&P SL20 followed suit, decreasing 152.73 points to close at 3,342.96. The daily average turnover was Rs.929mn compared to Rs.793mn reported during the previous week. On Monday total turnover amounted to Rs.1.13bn, with Commercial Bank (COMB) recording the largest turnover for the day, amounting to Rs.50mn with 419,451 shares being traded during the day. Market closed on a mixed note with ASPI down by 8.87 points while S&P SL20 was marginally up by 2.63 points.

Wednesday’s total turnover was Rs.954mn, with the day’s largest turnover being Rs.54mn, posted by Union Bank (UBC). Due to heavy selling of stocks such as NEST, Ceylon Tobacco (CTC) and JKH, the indices experienced a significant decline; both ASPI and S&P SL20 falling by 107.67 points and 59.81 points respectively.

The interest in JKH continued on Thursday, posting the highest turnover for the day of Rs.24.6mn, with 99,152 shares changing hands. The share closed at Rs.248.00 down by Rs.2.00. HNB recorded the 2nd largest turnover of Rs.18mn, falling 50 cents to close at Rs.154.00. This was followed by Nation’s Trust Bank (NTB), which had a turnover of Rs.13.8mn for the day, while the share gained 10 cents to close at Rs.62.40. Once again, JKH posted the highest turnover of Rs.141mn for Friday, with 584,980 shares being traded. The share’s price dropped by Rs.7.00 to close for the week at Rs.241.00. This was followed by DFCC Bank (DFCC), which recorded a turnover of Rs.11mn and 88,461 shares changing hands.