ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka stocks closed marginally down after a volatile session with heavy selling in early trade amid profit taking by some investors, brokers said.
Colombo’s broader All Share Price index (ASPI) declined 0.04 percent, or 8.11 points, to 18,876.85, on Thursday after falling almost 200 points at one time; while the S & P SL20 index of more liquid stocks, fell 0.69 percent, or 39.19 points, to close at 5,628.93.
Turnover dipped to 6.8 billion rupees; while the share volume was 358,067,095.
John Keells Holdings ended 0.30 rupees lower at 25.30; Commercial Bank, fell 2.00 rupees to 170.00; Melstacorp, ended 1.75 rupees weaker at 149.50; Sampath Bank, declined 1.00 rupees to 138.50; and NDB, dropped 1.25 rupees to close at 124.50 weighed down the ASPI.
The most active volumes were seen Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) at 61,405,579 (turnover 18,522,700.30 rupees), National Lanka Finance at 30,149,195 (turnover 3,016,472.60 rupees), Jetwing Symphony at 29,293,966 (turnover 397,385,648.30 rupees), Beruwala Resorts at 28,902,633 (turnover 124,520,336.50 rupees) and John Keells Hotels at 26,523,807 (turnover 561,029,213.50 rupees)
Sri Lanka’s IOC profits fell 38 percent to 2.3 billion rupees in the June 2025 quarter from a year ago, companies interim account show.
Read more
Lanka IOC ended 0.50 rupees down at 130.25.
Sri Lanka to change the governing law of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka to make the commission more accountable for the finances of the Ceylon Electricity Board, International Monetary Fund said.
Read more
In the region, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index has surged over heavyweight chip shares trimmed earlier losses after robust earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. helped ease concern about the outlook on the business environment, Japan’s The Mainichi newspaper said.
“The Nikkei stock index was initially pressured by chip-related shares after ASML Holding N.V., a major global supplier of chip-making equipment, flagged concern about its 2026 growth outlook on Wednesday amid macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty,” The Mainichi said.
Index ended 0.60 percent, or 237.79 points, from Wednesday at 39,901.19.
Pakistan’s KSE 100 index climbed 1.72 percent higher to 138,730.93 while India’s Nifty 50 fell 0.40 percent to 25,111.45 and BSE Sensex declined 0.45 percent to 82,259.24 on Thursday.
“The negative closure of the Indian equities was primarily driven by profit-taking in IT and financial sectors, along with uncertainty surrounding potential global trade disruptions and cautious stance ahead of quarterly earnings announcements from key companies,” India’s Business standard said.
Reuters says its data has shown “the Asian nation’s exports were starting to feel the impact of tariffs with shipments down for a second straight month.”
Meanwhile the gold prices have eased on Thursday, pressured by a firmer U.S. dollar, as investor worries eased temporarily after President Donald Trump said he did not plan to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell,” Reuters said.
As at 3.30 pm Sri Lankan time, spot gold was trading at 3,341.68 US dollars, down 12.71 US dollars. (Colombo/Jul17/2025)
Continue Reading
