Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange opened the week in the red and the rupee weakened against the dollar on Monday, as escalating tensions around the US-Iran standoff unsettled investor sentiment.
The All Share Price Index (ASPI) was down 0.39%, or 88.77 points, at 22,684.52 at midday, while the more liquid S&P SL20 lost 0.40%, or 24.77 points, to 6,239.17. By late morning the ASPI had slipped further to 22,609.71, a 0.72% fall on the session. Market turnover stood at Rs. 1.048 billion, led by the capital goods sector.
John Keells Holdings (-0.98%), Dialog Axiata (-2.03%) and Central Finance Company (-1.57%) were the top drags on the index.
“Market is still very proportional to the Middle Eastern conflict,” Raynal Wickremeratne, Head of Strategy at Softlogic Stockbrokers, told EconomyNext. “Diplomacy assumed between the US and Iran have not gone that way.”
The rupee was quoted at 316.40/80 against the US dollar in the spot market, weaker than Friday’s close of 316.50/70. Government bond yields were broadly steady, with the 2027 maturity flat at 8.75/85% and the 2033 benchmark easing marginally.
The session marks a reversal from last week’s ceasefire rally, triggered by US President Donald Trump’s weekend ultimatum threatening to “knock out every single power plant and bridge” in Iran if a deal is not reached at Monday’s Islamabad talks, and the seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz.
