Indices move up cautiously despite low activity D

uring the week, the All Share Price Index (ASPI) gained 41.64 points to close at 5,937.87 while the S&P SL20 increased by 38.91 points to close at 3,246.02. The daily average turnover was recorded at Rs.351mn compared to Rs.421mn reported during the previous week. Foreign buying for the week was Rs.628mn, and foreign selling was Rs.919mn.

On Monday total turnover was Rs.91mn. Colombo Land was traded during the day with approximately 261,000 shares traded with foreign purchases of 45,659 shares, while the share closed flat at Rs.35.00. 211,105 shares of Access Engineering traded and the share closed down by 10 cents at Rs.22.00. Local and foreign institutions along with high net worth individuals stayed away from the market. The market ended on a positive note with ASPI up by 17.88 points and S&PSL20 up by 6.31 points. On Tuesday total turnover was Rs.509mn. JKH posted a turnover of Rs.274mn for the day with 1.2mn shares traded which included shares changing hands between foreign funds, and the share closed up by 90 cents at Rs.219.00. 269,995 shares of Commercial Bank changed hands with the share closing up by 50 cents at Rs.115.00 while foreign buying amounted to approximately 100,000 shares. National Development Bank saw 162,323 shares traded during the day while the share closed down 10 cents at Rs.179.90. The market closed on a mixed note with ASPI decreasing by 6.47 points while the S&PSL20 increased by 1.22 points.

Wednesday’s total turnover was Rs.641mn. JKH posted a turnover of Rs.380mn for the day with 1.7mn shares traded, and closed down by Rs.1.00 at Rs.218.00. Foreign selling in JKH amounted to 1.2mn shares. Approximately 149,000 shares of Sampath Bank changed hands with the share closing at Rs.179.90, up by Rs.1.70 while foreign purchases for the day were 102,599 shares. The market ended on a positive note with ASPI up by 4.41 points while S&PSL20 also increased by 10.58 points. On Thursday total turnover was Rs.263mn. Commercial Bank posted a turnover of Rs.51mn for the day with 431,681 shares traded and the share closed up by Rs.1.20 at Rs.117.70. Foreign buying on Commercial Bank was 311,242 shares. Approximately 206,000 shares of JKH traded during the day with foreign purchases of 136,716 shares while the share closed up by 10 cents at Rs.218.10. The market closed on a positive note with ASPI increasing by 2.51 points and S&PSL20 also up by 6.69 points.

On Friday the ASPI increased by 23.31 points while S&PSL20 was also up by 14.11 points. Total turnover amounted to Rs.251mn. Tokyo Cement closed up by 50 cents to close at Rs.35.00 with approximately 630,000 shares traded. Union Bank also gained 60 cents to close at Rs.18.90 with 868,277 shares changing hands during the day.