The All Share Price Index fell 2.46% in September and the S&P SL20 lost 1.92%, making September the sixth monthly decline the Colombo bourse has recorded in the first nine months of 2026 against just three monthly gains.

Colombo Stock Exchange data leave the ASPI down about 8.1% for the year to date and the S&P SL20 about 4.3%, the Daily FT reported.

A year that started well

The market entered 2026 with momentum, the ASPI having risen in each of the final four months of 2025 and adding 5.25% in January. The reversal came sharply:

That sequence put the third-quarter loss at about 6.5%, erasing most of the 6.7% gain the index had posted in the second quarter.

Foreign money has been leaving

Central Bank data show net foreign outflows from the CSE of US$166 million between January and August — already more than the US$122 million recorded across the whole of 2025.

The selling has been a persistent feature of recent sessions rather than a single event. Foreign investors were net sellers for a second consecutive session when the index closed the week in the red on Friday, with turnover of Rs. 873.38 million falling back below the Rs. 1 billion mark after a banks-led Thursday session.

Context

The monthly figures sit against an interest rate and inflation backdrop that has not moved in equities’ favour. The Central Bank held its policy rate at 8.75% on 30 September with inflation at a 37-month high of 8%, and its own projection has price growth staying in high single digits through the first quarter of 2027. Banking sector sentiment did get one lift during the month, when Fitch upgraded Bank of Ceylon’s international ratings to ‘B-’ following the sovereign upgrade of 22 September.

Not reported

The report does not give September turnover or traded volume totals, break the foreign outflow down by sector, or carry a September net-outflow figure — the Central Bank data cited run only to August.