Foreign investors at the Colombo Stock Exchange ended a 21-session selling streak on Tuesday, emerging as net buyers with an inflow of Rs. 19.8 million, according to market data reported by Daily FT.
The turnaround followed weeks of selling that had weighed on a market rattled by the US-Iran standoff and uncertainty over the Hormuz shipping lane. Local brokers said Tuesday’s session already priced in volatility ahead of the ceasefire deadline, and President Trump later extended the truce indefinitely, removing the near-term cliff that had been pushing foreign holders out of frontier markets.
The single-session break did little to reverse the monthly trend. Foreign investors remain net sellers of Rs. 2.6 billion so far in April, while the year-to-date net outflow stands at approximately Rs. 22.4 billion.
Benchmark indices tell a similar split-screen story. The All Share Price Index (ASPI) is up a nominal 0.01% year-to-date, while the more actively traded S&P SL20 is down 1.06%. April has been stronger, with the ASPI gaining 7.40% for the month and the S&P SL20 up 5.39% — gains driven largely by domestic institutional and retail buying rather than foreign inflows.
Market participants will watch in coming sessions whether Tuesday’s buying marks a genuine inflection point or a one-off rebalancing as foreign portfolios reassess Sri Lanka’s frontier-market exposure against the broader geopolitical backdrop.
