The Colombo Stock Exchange ended Friday's trading session in positive territory, with the benchmark index rising 0.20 percent amid sustained foreign investor interest in Sri Lankan government securities.
The All Share Price Index gained 43.21 points to close at 21,322.86 on Friday, while the S&P SL20 index advanced 0.34 percent to 6,015.18. Market turnover reached 2.2 billion rupees for the day. Among gainers, Cargills led with an increase of 28 rupees to 678.50, followed by advances in Hayleys, Nations Trust Bank, Haycarb, and Commercial Bank. Sampath Bank recorded the largest decline, falling 1.75 rupees to 138.25.
The market's modest gains reflected broader stability in Sri Lanka's financial markets. Foreign investors continued purchasing government securities, with net buying of 8,297 million rupees recorded in the week ended August 21, bolstering cumulative foreign inflows to 81.2 billion rupees over ten consecutive weeks since mid-June. Central Bank officials noted that foreign holdings of rupee bonds reached 202.5 billion rupees, marking the highest published figure in the institution's Weekly Economic Indicators, though they cautioned that this figure remains subject to daily volatility.
Currency stability supported investor sentiment, with the Sri Lankan rupee strengthening to 328.00/05 per US dollar from 328.50/60 the previous week. Bond yields declined across most tenors, with select maturities trading lower than their previous levels. The rupee's recovery came after the currency had weakened significantly through May, hitting a near three-year low of 354 to the dollar before stabilizing in recent weeks.
On the corporate front, Arcasia Investment & Trading and ATX Partners converted their voluntary takeover offer for Industrial Asphalts into a mandatory offer following agreements by major shareholders Ramanan Govindasamy and Srikumar Balasubramaniyam to sell their combined 50.16 percent stake. Additionally, Fitch Ratings assigned a BBB+(lka) rating to DFCC Bank's proposed 12.5 billion rupee subordinated debentures, which will mature in five years and be listed on the exchange.
