The Colombo Stock Exchange extended Monday’s decline on Tuesday, with the All Share Price Index shedding 125.97 points, or 0.60%, to close at 20,817.82.
Both Daily Mirror and EconomyNext report the ASPI figure identically. Daily Mirror says the index weakened steadily through the session, slipping below the 20,850 level before closing near its low for the day.
Breadth, not volume, was the story
Turnover recovered to Rs. 1.01 billion on roughly 69.63 million shares — a rebound from Monday’s Rs. 595.97 million, which was the lowest daily figure recorded so far this year. But the recovery in value did nothing for participation.
Only 31 counters gained against 163 decliners, an advance-decline ratio of just 0.19 — the sharpest deterioration in breadth in recent sessions. Foreign investors were again marginal net buyers, with an inflow of about Rs. 20.05 million.
Capital Goods led sector turnover at Rs. 198.93 million, followed by real estate management and development at Rs. 171.61 million. John Keells Holdings recorded the highest individual counter turnover at Rs. 91.22 million. Crossings made up around 10% of the day’s total, led by JKH with Rs. 75.20 million across two blocks and HBS with a Rs. 21.60 million crossing.
Dialog Axiata was the largest negative contributor to the index, followed by Commercial Bank, Overseas Realty, Singer and Tokyo Cement. Carson Cumberbatch was the strongest positive contributor.
On EconomyNext’s account, the day’s biggest movers by percentage were Lion Brewery (Ceylon), up 2.80% at Rs. 1,800.25, and Carson Cumberbatch, up 1.88% at Rs. 730.00, against Overseas Realty down 2.29% at Rs. 51.30 and Singer down 2.19% at Rs. 76.00.
Raynal Wickremeratne, Head of Research and Strategy at NDB Securities, told EconomyNext that sentiment remained subdued, with earlier growth seen as largely priced in and cautious global conditions continuing to weigh on trading.
The closing prints still don’t match — but Monday’s dispute has resolved
The two outlets agree on the ASPI to the second decimal, but publish different closes for the S&P SL20:
| S&P SL20 close | Change | |
|---|---|---|
| EconomyNext | 5,908.66 | −12.06 (−0.20%) |
| Daily Mirror | 5,896.40 | −24.32 (−0.41%) |
Each is internally consistent, and both imply exactly the same previous close of 5,920.72.
That figure settles a disagreement left open on Monday, when the two outlets published different closing levels for both indices. Daily Mirror had Monday’s ASPI at 20,943.79 and the SL20 at 5,920.72; EconomyNext had 20,955.56 and 5,923.44. Tuesday’s EconomyNext report implies Daily Mirror’s Monday figures on both indices — 20,817.82 plus 125.97 is 20,943.79 — meaning EconomyNext’s own Monday prints were the outliers and have since been superseded.
The Tuesday SL20 gap of 12.26 points remains unexplained by either outlet. Daily Mirror’s report, credited to Almas Equities Research, was filed at 6:28 pm, nearly three hours after EconomyNext’s.
Also on Tuesday, Bimputh Lanka Investments PLC told the market that its court-appointed liquidator has called for statements of affairs from directors while the company’s challenge to the winding-up order remains before the Supreme Court.