ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange slid 1.22 percent as the Israel-Iran war intensified, brokers said.
“Market was on a bit of a struggle today due to the Israel-Iran war going on for the sixth consecutive day,” Dimantha Mathew, Chief Research and Strategy Officer at First Capital Holdings PLC told EconomyNext.
“There is buying interest, but some amount of worrying can be seen in the market.”
The ASPI fell 210.51 points to close at 17,071.44; while the S&P SL20 dropped 1.11 percent, or 57.43 points, to 5,094.31.
“Consumer, construction, banks and diversified financials were most affected,” Mathew said.
The ASPI was weighed down by Hayleys, which ended 5.25 rupees weaker at 159.25; C T Holdings, which declined 20.00 rupees to 430.00; Sampath Bank which ended 1.75 rupees weaker at 120.00; DFCC Bank which declined 3.25 rupees to 110.00; and HNB, which fell 4.00 rupees to close at 317.50.
“Turnover levels are slightly coming down.”
Turnover fell to 3.8 billion rupees from 6.8 billion rupees in the previous session, while the share volume fell to 181,239,883.
Regional equity markets saw mixed sentiments after US president Donald Trump said “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!,” on his social media platform on Wednesday.
India’s Nifty 50 index dropped 0.17 percent to 24,812.05 and BSE Sensex fell 0.17 percent to 81,444.66 on Wednesday, while Pakistan’s KSE 100 index was trading 1.27 percent lower at 120,427.57.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed for the third consecutive day ending at a four-month high helped by a weaker yen against the US dollar “amid fears of the Israel-Iran conflict escalating and rises in game-related issues including Nintendo,” Japan’s The Mainichi newspaper said.
Some global equity markets feared US involvement in the Middle East war. However, UK stocks climbed higher as the country’s inflation slowed to 3.4 percent in May amid an easing of transport costs. The FTSE 100 index rose 3.86 percent to 8839.39.
As at 4.05 pm Sri Lankan time, spot gold was trading at 3,395.55 US dollars, up 0.39 US dollars. (Colombo/Jun18/2025)
