News & market updates

HUTCH Sri Lanka ran the 'HUTCH DANSADA' Poson Moon Scan promo inviting users to scan the full moon with their phones to receive assured instant digital rewards; thousands of customers participated nationwide.

FITIS announced partners for FITIS Cricket 6's 2026, to be held on 26 July 2026 at Thurstan College Cricket Grounds, naming Hikvision | IT Gallery Computers as Title Partner and Inflow Technologies, ESOFT Uni, ASUS, Acer (Metropolitan Technologies) and ViewSonic as supporting partners.

Sri Lanka's total exports reached an estimated US$ 9,012.24 Mn in Jan–Jun 2026, up 8% y/y; merchandise exports were US$ 7,073.31 Mn (+8.95%) and services US$ 1,938.94 Mn (+4.49%). Electrical & electronic components, rubber, food & beverages and spices recorded strong gains in June, while apparel exports fell 11.74% y/y.

World Bank lead economist Dr. Harsha Aturupane warned Sri Lanka must reverse anti-export policies and reconnect with global markets to restore innovation and competitiveness. He cautioned ICT/BPM faces disruption from AI and noted low global value-chain participation (8.1% vs 26% India, 34% Vietnam).

CA Sri Lanka published a white paper urging urgent tax and investment reforms to boost FDI, proposing measures like a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax, refundable tax credits, targeted spend-based incentives and APA improvements. The paper prioritises tech/digital, renewable energy, export manufacturing and regional HQs and calls for institutional capacity to implement OECD-GMT–aligned reforms.

Asian stocks rose, led by a rebound in semiconductor shares as MSCI's Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index gained 1.2% and South Korea's Kospi jumped over 6%. Brent crude nudged to $91.55/bbl and markets are focused on upcoming US earnings and central bank meetings.

Provider.lk launched an AI Website Builder — billed as Sri Lanka’s first native AI website creator — that builds professional, responsive sites via a chat interface in under 10 minutes and is available now with a limited-time six-month free trial when registering a new annual .lk or .com domain.

EY Global Delivery Services Sri Lanka hosted its largest-ever Milestones event in Colombo with about 3,500 EY professionals and the Prime Minister spotlighting the National Digital Economy Strategy to embed AI-first operations and grow ICT exports.

Sweden will send a trade delegation to Sri Lanka Expo 2027, Ambassador Jan Thesleff confirmed, with preparations underway to bring Swedish buyers and investors to the Colombo event (14–17 Jan 2027). Discussions identified export opportunities in cinnamon, coconut products, gems & jewellery, apparel and IT services for Nordic markets.

Kaspersky warns fraudsters are exploiting parked domains to harvest sensitive user data (IP, geolocation, cookies, browser fingerprints), perform malicious redirects and typosquatting, and deliver phishing/malware. Users are advised to avoid suspicious links, verify URLs and use anti-tracking/security tools.

SLT-MOBITEL won the Winner award in the Sustainable Telecommunication Service Provider category at the Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards 2026. The recognition highlights the firm's ESG focus and investments in renewable energy, energy-efficient infrastructure and digital inclusion.

Colombo Stock Exchange ASPI fell 0.22% (47.45 pts) to 21,160.65 with turnover Rs 3.28bn, led by food & staples retailing and large crossings dominated by Cargills. Dialog, John Keells, Aitken Spence and Lanka Ashok Leyland were top gainers while Ceylinco Insurance, Harischandra Mills and HNB were top losers.

ASPI fell 0.92% (197.31 pts) to 21,208.10, its lowest in over three months, with 193 counters down and market turnover at around Rs.2.6bn. DIAL, COMB, RICH, JKH and CARS were the major contributors to the decline.

IGT I Outsourcing Lanka moved into Port City Colombo and has grown to just over 500 staff serving international clients, highlighting Port City’s role in boosting Sri Lanka’s ICT exports (ICT/BPM exports $1.64bn in 2025). The article urges predictable tax treatment after a 2026 amendment changed employee tax in the zone and calls for digital process improvements to keep talent and investment.

Asian stocks rose as hopes of Middle East mediation pulled Brent down to $88.88/bbl from a one-month high, while investors awaited major tech earnings and monitored rising U.S. Treasury yields and interest-rate expectations.

EY Global Delivery Services Sri Lanka hosted a Milestones event in Colombo attended by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and nearly 3,500 EY professionals, the largest EY event in Sri Lanka. The PM highlighted the National Digital Economy Strategy, AI-first operations and plans to grow ICT exports.

Salesforce South Asia President Arundhati Bhattacharya says digital transformation is central to rebuilding and growing Sri Lanka's financial services, citing the National Digital Economy Strategy's $15bn digital economy target and 95% digital literacy by 2030.

Colombo Stock Exchange ASPI was up 0.06% at midday (13.19 pts to 21,221.29) with market turnover LKR 358.7m and Food, Beverage & Tobacco leading turnover at LKR 201.3m. Positive contributors included John Keells, Dialog, Aitken Spence and Browns; HNB, DFCC and Ceylon Grain were top negatives; Tess Agro listed 125,000,000 shares effective July 21, 2026.

Yellow House Productions and Nanotek Computer Solutions announced a formal Technology Partnership, with Nanotek as Yellow House's Official Technology Partner supplying professional-grade hardware to power the studio's XR platform Archivist Into the Artverse and the Helixra web game.

Happy Chimps, a Sri Lankan-British AI company valued at LKR 2.5 billion, has been accepted into NVIDIA's Inception Program and will receive up to US$100,000 in cloud infrastructure support over the next 12–18 months. The support aims to cut AWS costs and accelerate development of its AI-powered SME operating system.

SLT‑MOBITEL opened newly modernized Maharagama and Battaramulla outlets with extended hours (09:00–21:00 weekdays, 09:00–17:00 Saturdays) and digital features—queue management, appointment booking, wireless service and digital payments—to improve customer experience.

A three-day National Workshop on Data Governance and Artificial Intelligence for Public Sector Transformation commenced in Colombo on 20, aiming to strengthen senior public officials' capacity in data governance, interoperable systems and responsible AI to accelerate digital transformation.

Kaspersky GReAT identified OkoBot, a sophisticated malware framework that has targeted hundreds of cryptocurrency users across 25+ countries, exfiltrating seed phrases via OkoSpyware and multiple stealers. It hooks Trezor and Ledger apps, deploys malicious loaders and fake installers, and remains active and evolving.

Colombo Stock Exchange fell 0.80% as the All Share Price Index closed at 21,234.81 amid escalating West Asia tensions and rising oil prices. Top decliners included Dialog Axiata and Commercial Bank, with market flows shifting from equities to fixed income amid higher interest rates.

Colombo Stock Exchange fell as the ASPI dropped 0.72% to 21,250.49 and the S&P SL20 fell 0.66% to 5,960.20; turnover was 325 million rupees. Dialog Axiata (DIAL.N0000 down 1.10 to 43.10) and Commercial Bank (COMB.N0000 down 1.75 to 202) weighed on the index.

Asian shares slipped as Gulf fighting pushed Brent crude above $90/bbl, stoking inflation fears and increasing the likelihood of earlier Fed rate hikes. Packed tech earnings and AI valuation worries add downside risk to equities while higher yields support fixed income.

CSE indices fell sharply — ASPI down 197.31 points to 21,208.10 and S&P SL20 down 56.46 to 5,943.22 — despite turnover rising to Rs.2.63bn. Turnover was driven by crossings in CT Holdings (Rs.561m), Cargills (Rs.544.95m) and Lanka Milk Foods (Rs.232m), while price losses in Dialog, Commercial Bank, John Keells and Carson Cumberbatch led the ASPI decline.

Sweden's ambassador reaffirmed plans to bring a Swedish trade delegation to Sri Lanka Expo 2027 (14–17 Jan 2027) to connect Swedish buyers with Sri Lankan exporters, highlighting opportunities in cinnamon, coconut products, gems & jewellery, apparel and ICT.

WSO2 founder Sanjiva Weerawarana urged Sri Lankan and South Asian tech entrepreneurs to build globally competitive product companies from the region and retain ownership of their IP, saying AI lowers barriers and India–Sri Lanka collaboration can unlock opportunities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping set out China's vision for global AI governance at the 2026 World AI Conference, pledging 5,000 AI training opportunities and to enable 30 countries to use the MAZU meteorological warning system over the next five years. He emphasized openness, safety, multilateral cooperation and proposed a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.