The All Share Price Index closed at 19,970.22 on Wednesday, up 277.55 points or 1.41 per cent, leaving it 29.78 points short of the 20,000 mark. It was the second consecutive session of gains on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
The S&P SL20 rose 80.26 points, or 1.43 per cent, to 5,692.57, the Daily Mirror reported at 5.37 p.m. Colombo time. The ASPI strengthened through the session and closed near its intraday high.
The session in figures
Turnover improved to Rs 2.17 billion on 67.40 million shares. The Telecommunication Services sector dominated activity, led by Dialog Axiata with roughly Rs 849.16 million in turnover — about 39 per cent of the day’s total on its own.
Crossings accounted for around 14 per cent of turnover, led by Melstacorp at Rs 237.60 million, followed by LB Finance and Hemas Holdings.
Market breadth was strongly positive: 151 gainers against 53 decliners, an advance-decline ratio of 2.85. Commercial Bank was the strongest positive contributor to the index, followed by Dialog Axiata, Hatton National Bank, Hemas Holdings and CIC Holdings. LAMB.N was the largest negative contributor.
The foreign outflow
Against the rally, foreign investors were net sellers of approximately Rs 894.32 million — a sizeable outflow on a day of broad buying, and the figure that qualifies the session. The Daily Mirror notes that the outflow “remains a key concern”, and that a sustained move above 20,000 would be important in confirming the recovery’s strength.
The numbers reconcile against Tuesday’s close
Wednesday’s figures check out exactly against the previous session. This desk reported Tuesday’s close at 19,692.67 on the ASPI and 5,612.31 on the S&P SL20. Adding Wednesday’s stated gains:
- 19,692.67 + 277.55 = 19,970.22 — the stated close, to the cent
- 5,612.31 + 80.26 = 5,692.57 — the stated close, to the cent
The percentage moves agree too: 277.55 on 19,692.67 is 1.409 per cent, and 80.26 on 5,612.31 is 1.430 per cent.
EconomyNext’s intraday reading
EconomyNext reported at 11.21 a.m. — mid-session, not at the close — that the ASPI was up 0.67 per cent or 131.19 points at 19,823, with the S&P SL20 up 0.74 per cent or 41.68 points at 5,653. Those figures reconcile to the same Tuesday base (19,692.67 + 131.19 = 19,823.86), and show the index roughly doubled its gain over the second half of the day.
The two reports are not in conflict; they are snapshots taken at different hours, and only the Daily Mirror’s is a closing figure.
In the same report EconomyNext put the rupee at 332.52/60 to the US dollar in the spot market, weaker from 332.40/50 the previous day, with bond yields broadly flat.
Context: a recovery from a year-to-date low
The index reached a year-to-date low of 19,640.56 on Monday 26 October after a sixth consecutive losing session. Wednesday’s close is 329.66 points above that trough, recovered across two sessions. The ASPI last traded above 20,000 earlier in October before closing below the level on 21 October.
Not reported
Neither filing gives the ASPI’s intraday high or low, the local-investor split behind the foreign outflow, or which counters drove the foreign selling. Neither says whether the Dialog Axiata turnover was driven by crossings or ordinary trades, and neither attributes the rally to any specific news or policy development.
