October 08, Colombo: It was the close of yet another appalling day with the indexes on a downward crawl throughout the major part of the day with All Share Price Index (ASPI) lost a significant 64.05 points (3.04%) to end at 2043.13 while the liquid Milanka Price Index (MPI) settled at 2259.40, down by a massive 83.33 points (3.56%).

The main reason was the fall in heavy weight stocks like Dialog Telekom PLC (DIAL), Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLTL) etc. A somewhat lower turnover of Rs. 215.98Mn was recorded today despite the improvement in volume when compared with yesterday. The “MASK Spell” was broken today with Janashakthi Insurance Company PLC (JINS) taking over top slots in both volume and turnover lists. JINS attributed to a volume of 8.74Mn shares and a turnover of Rs.104.62Mn. The counter signed off at Rs.9.50, still below its’ issue price of Rs.12.00.

Next slots in the volume list were possessed by DIAL, Primal Glass Ceylon PLC (GLAS) and Maskeliya Plantations PLC (MASK) with 0.75Mn, 0.68Mn and 0.58Mn shares respectively. Notable contributions to turnover were also made by Ceylinco Insurance PLC (CINS), MASK and DIAL with Rs.19.13Mn, Rs.17.96Mn and Rs.5.39Mn respectively. Price losers dominated price gainers by 137 to 14. Foreign trade was heavier on the purchasing side resulting in a weakened net inflow of Rs.14.35Mn.