Continued negative sentiment surrounding Colombo Dockyard shares weighed heavily on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) All Share Price Index (ASPI) on Monday, with the index falling by 68.27 points to close 1.13 percent lower, according to market brokers.
“The market was 250 points down, mostly on Dockyard shares,” said Ranjan Ranatunga, Assistant Vice President – Research at First Capital.
The ASPI ended the session at 21,898.20, down by 250.89 points from Friday’s close. The more liquid S&P SL20 index also declined, closing 0.70 percent, or 42.18 points, lower at 6,014.36. Both indices experienced a gradual decline throughout the trading session.
Market activity remained subdued due to the holiday season, with retail investors driving most of the trades, Ranatunga noted.
Aside from Colombo Dockyard, which fell by 35.50 rupees to 107.00 rupees, other major contributors to the decline included HNB (down 4.25 rupees at 385.25 rupees), Richard Pieris & Company (down 1.20 rupees at 38.60 rupees), Cargills (Ceylon) (down 19.50 rupees at 761.25 rupees), and John Keells (down 20 cents at 20.90 rupees).
Crossings were reported in John Keells, NTB, and Tokyo Cement. Market turnover was 2.7 billion rupees, remaining below the monthly average of 3.7 billion rupees.
The session saw a net foreign inflow of 8.57 million rupees, with Colombo Dockyard (DOCK.R) accounting for an inflow of 27.1 million rupees.
Trading volume reached 81,900,811 shares, with 26,499 trades recorded during the session.
In other regional markets, equities traded on a mixed note. Financial and information-related shares led gains in Indian markets on Monday, as foreign investors appeared to return to domestic equities amid a strengthening rupee, according to Reuters. India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.79 percent at 26,172.40, while the Sensex index rose 0.75 percent to 85,567.48.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed 1.81 percent higher at 50,402.39, buoyed by gains in Artificial Intelligence-related shares, according to Japan’s Mainichi newspaper.
Elsewhere, Pakistan’s Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index slipped 0.16 percent to 171,138.69, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended 0.43 percent lower at 25,801.77.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.89 percent, or 40.51 points, to close at 4,610.29.
As of 3:45 pm Sri Lankan time, spot gold was trading at 4,416.78 US dollars, up 1.37 percent.
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