The Los Angeles Business Journal’s index of the largest local public companies rose for the week. The weighted LABJ index rose 2 percent to close at 218, with gainers outpacing losers 111 to 41. Eight companies closed the week unchanged.

Downtown Los Angeles clothing company American Apparel Inc. was one of the week’s leading gainers. Shares rose 86 percent to close at $1.07 on Friday after a spate of news, including the formal dismissal of former Chief Executive Dov Charney, the appointment of veteran retail executive Paula Schneider as chief executive and an approach by Irving Place Capital about a possible takeover.

Monrovia biotechnology company Xencor Inc. also had a good week. Shares rose 41 percent to close at $16.62 after the company announced that it had entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Novo Nordisk.

Sylmar’s Second Sight Medical Products Inc., a maker of an artificial retina for blind patients, was among the week’s losing stocks. Shares fell 27 percent to close the week at $11.19 after the company announced it had entered into an exclusive agreement with distributor Erişçi Elektronik Ltd. to offer its retinal implant to blind patients in Turkey.