May 16, Colombo: Even though there was no specific negative news in the peace front, the market proceeded to tumble on the back of selling pressure on leading blue chips with most investors seen moving away from trading opportunities to stand on the sidelines and monitor market performance.

However the market managed to steer clear of negative territory only on Thursday with both indices on the limelight and with slightly improved levels of turnover. With almost daily losses, the All Share Price Index (ASPI) plunged 44.6 points (1.69%) to end the week at 2596.64 while the Milanka Price Index (MPI) slid 68.49 points (2.12%) to close the week at 3156.18.

During the week, it was mostly low valued counters in the likes of Tess Agro Ltd. (TESS), Ceylon Glass Company PLC (GLASS), Vanik Incorporation Ltd. (VANI), Vallibel Power Erathna PLC (VPEL) and Lanka Cement Ltd. (LCEM) which attracted interest among investors and thus happened to be one of the likely reasons for the low daily turnover levels.

With low activity levels on all trading days, there weren’t much block deals except on Friday with crossings on Fortress Resorts (RHTL) and Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLTL). RHTL saw a crossing of 1.88Mn shares changing hands at Rs. 7 and for the week, in total 1.89Mn shares changed hands contributing Rs. 13.3 million to the weekly turnover. The counter closed at Rs.7 after touching a low of Rs.6.75 during the week.

Fixed line operator SLTL saw a block of 1.1 Mn shares change hands at Rs.49. A total of 1.47 Mn shares changed hands during the week after posting Rs. 71.9 Mn to the week’s turnover. The counter closed down 25 cents at Rs. 48.75.

VANI drew substantial interest among investors during the week with 4.64Mn shares changing hands during the week at a high of Rs. 1.90 and a low of Rs. 1.60. Notable trades during the week were VANI with 4.64 Mn shares, TESS with 4.63 Mn shares, VPEL with 3.94 Mn shares, RHTL with 1.89 Mn shares and SLTL with 1.47 Mn shares.

Turnover for the week registered at Rs.763.3Mn reflecting a meager daily average of Rs. 152.7 Mn. Highest contributors include SLTL with Rs. 71.9 Mn (9.4%), E.B. Creasy and Company Ltd. (EBCR) with Rs. 58.8 Mn (7.7%), Cargills Ceylon PLC (CARG) with Rs. 45.5 Mn (6.0%), Ceylon Theatres Ltd. (CTHR) with Rs. 28.4 Mn (3.7%) and Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DIST) with Rs. 28.0 Mn (3.7%).

Foreigners were more prominent on the buying side bringing the net inflow to Rs. 4.43 Mn.