Stocks were confined to a narrow trading range during the first four trading days, as investors remained cautious ahead of the earnings season. However shares climbed on Friday amid gains on blue chip stocks coupled with retail interest on selected mid cap counters.

Comparing Week on Week (WoW) the ASPI (All Share Price Index) increased 1.4% or 31.9 points to close the week at 2,395.0 points, while the MPI (Milanka Price Index) edged up by 1.2% or 30.6 points to close at 2,671.3 points.

JKH recorded a turnover of Rs.264.6 million for the week contributing the largest portion to the market activity. JKH share while being trading within a price band of Rs.128.50 and Rs.132.50 per share closed the week 1.6% up at Rs.130.00 on Friday. Total volume of JKH shares traded stood at 2.0 million for the week

Foreign interest on Commercial Bank (COMB) saw the largest listed banking stock becoming the week’s second highest contributor, with price rising 4.5% WoW. COMB saw most part of its turnover coming on Wednesday on the back of foreign interest. During the week the stock recorded a turnover of Rs.249.5 million with 1.9 million shares trading within a price range of Rs.127.50 and Rs.133.00 per share. COMB share ended the week at Rs.132.75.

The two midcap stocks Pan Asia (PABC) and Lanka Cement (LCEM) each contributed Rs.115.9 and Rs.90.0 million respectively towards weekly turnover. PABC observed a 14.8% increase in its share price for the week to close at Rs.15.50 per share while LCEM ended 8.7% up at Rs.28.00 per share.

Meanwhile Hotel Developers (HDEV) share price jumped by 28.2% for the week as investors chased the stock on speculative reasons. The HDEV stock contributed Rs.59.3 million to the weekly market turnover with 0.5 million shares changing hands.

Activity levels picked up during the week dominated largely by retail investors. The total turnover for the week stood at Rs.1.6 billion, up 122.6% while average daily turnover was reordered at Rs.316 million compared to last week’s Rs.177.6 million.

Foreign investors remained net buyers for the week amounting to Rs.75.3 million. Foreign purchases for the week stood at Rs.431.6 million, while foreign sales totaled to Rs.356.3 million. The foreign participation for the week was at 24.9% of total activity showing a marginal improvement compared to 23.6% witnessed last week.