CSE ends month in red, down 0.12%

Wednesday, 1 April 2026 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Briefly falls below 21,000 points intra-day

The Colombo stock market yesterday closed marginally down, after recovering from a sharp mid-session slump which saw the APSI briefly dip below 21,000 points.

The ASPI ended 0.12% down, or 26.06 points at 21,066.18 after hitting an intra-day low of 20,998.84. The active S&P SL20 ended down 0.08% or 4.86 points at 5,904.10. Market turnover was nearly Rs. 3.6 billion on over 165 million shares traded. Foreign investors were net sellers on a net outflow of

Rs. 125 million.

During the month of March 2026, the ASPI declined 11.24% while the S&P SL20 was down 11.03%. The market has lost Rs. 903 billion in value since the Middle East war began on 28 February.

First Capital Research said the bourse continued to retreat amid global uncertainty and subdued investor activity yesterday with SAMP, NDB, HAYL, ACL, and GLAS emerging as the top negative contributors to the ASPI.

Market sentiment remained mixed throughout the session, with notably subdued retail investor participation, although heightened interest was observed in blue-chip counters. Crossings accounted for 33.7% of market turnover.

The capital goods sector contributed 52% to the day’s turnover, followed by the banking, materials sectors, which collectively accounted for 28%.