📈 Colombo Stocks Edge Up Despite Rate Hike Cautiousness

The Colombo stock market recovered to close in the green yesterday, showing resilience despite subdued investor sentiment following the Central Bank of Sri Lanka's (CBSL) recent 100-basis-point policy rate hike. • Market Performance & Figures: • ASPI rose by 0.11% (+24.09 points) to close at 22,199.23. • S&P SL20 gained 0.21% (+13.08 points) to end at 6,131.34. • Market turnover reached over Rs. 1.86 Bn with 61.8 Mn shares traded. • Market Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio stood at 11.43. • Sector & Stock Breakdowns: • Food, Beverage & Tobacco was the top turnover contributor at 19%. • Materials and Capital Goods jointly brought in 30% of turnover. • Key positive index drivers included DIAL, CCS, BREW, CARS, and NDB. • Crossings accounted for 14% of turnover, led by CICN (Rs. 153.8 Mn), LMF (Rs. 46 Mn), and JKH (Rs. 40.2 Mn). • Investor Activity: • Retail and high-net-worth investor participation remained below average. • Foreign investors recording a minor net inflow of Rs. 0.71 Mn. • Net foreign buying peaked in VLL (Rs. 75.4 Mn), while net foreign selling was highest in AAIC (Rs. 68.4 Mn).