Market red

Market saw a correction yesterday as recent hot picks such as John Keells Holdings, Commercial Bank and Sampath Bank saw their share prices dropping. Turnover levels fell today as activity on the above mentioned stocks witnessed little activity. Retail investors also remained on the sidelines.

ASI dropped by 30.94 points (-0.63%) to close at 4,908.72, MPI lost 58.83 points (-1.28%) to close at 4,521.32 and the S&P index dropped 20.90 points (-0.75%) to close at 2,778.88. Turnover was Rs. 209Mn.

Top contributors to turnover were John Keells Holdings with Rs. 46.4Mn, Panasian Power with Rs. 21.3Mn and Seylan Bank non-voting with Rs. 12.9 Mn. Most active counters for the day were Commercial Credit which announced a Rs. 1.00 dividend, Swarnamahal Financial Services and HVA Foods. Notable gainers for the day were Harischandra Mills up by 13.9% to close at Rs. 2,899.00, Kelsey Homes up by 7.6% to close at Rs. 15.60 and Asian Alliance Insurance up by 3.6% to close at Rs. 84.00. Lanka Securities Research