ECONOMYNEXT – The Colombo Stock Exchange closed 0.22 percent higher on Friday amidst an early market closure due to adverse weather conditions, brokers said.
“We have been seeing a bit of downward trend these days, but today we saw a slight reversal in the market,” Dimantha Mathew, Chief Research and Strategy Officer at First Capital Holdings PLC said.
Market ceased trading at 12.30 pm after 3 hours.
“Today was a bit of a shorter day and not many traders were there in the market.”
The broader All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed 50.73 points up at 22,712.82 while the more liquid S&P SL20 index closed 0.16 percent, or 10.12 points higher, at 6,278.57.
However, both the indices had dipped in morning trade before rebounding to positive territory.
“We will probably see this volatility going forward. Early dip is a reflection of the downwards trend in the past few days,” Mathew said.
Investor interest was seen in banking and telecommunication related shares. Speculative retail trading caused the market to move higher on a low trading day, he said.
Top contributors to the ASPI were John Keells Holdings (up 20 cents at 22.10 rupees), Ceylinco Holdings (up 50.25 rupees at 3,100.00 rupees), Aitken Spence (up 3 rupees at 156.00 rupees), Dialog Axiata (up 30 cents at 28.80 rupees), and Sampath Bank (up 25 cents at 145.75 rupees).
Market turnover was 1.93 billion rupees. Brokers said early closure resulted in low turnover.
Meanwhile, the share volume was 63,171,890.
Brokers said some investors were waiting for the market to cross the 24,000 mark before securing gains.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2 per cent to 25,884.42 at the noon break as “investors searched for fresh catalysts beyond expectations about a US interest-rate cut that reversed a tumble triggered by concerns about an artificial-intelligence bubble,” South China Morning Post said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was trading 0.17 percent higher at 50,253.91 on open.
Pakistan’s KSE 100 index climbed 0.85 percent higher to 166,771.81.
India’s Nifty 50 index moved 0.016 percent higher to close at 26,219.70, while the BSE Sensex traded 0.078 percent stronger at 85,787.65. (Colombo/Nov28/2025)
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