A market brief each morning, plus company filings and news from across Sri Lanka's stock market. Filter by company, sector and theme, and use sentiment badges to quickly identify Positive or Negative news.
Colombo stocks opened higher with the ASPI up 0.12% (25.16 pts) to 21,048.59 and the S&P SL20 up 0.20% to 5,936.69; market turnover was LKR 139.24m. Top contributors included Haycarb, Melstacorp, Hayleys, Commercial Bank and HNB while Access Engineering, Vallibel One, DFCC Bank and RIL Property lagged; WindForce said it will commission a 10MW/40MWh BESS and a 5MW floating solar plant on Sept 18, 2026, taking its renewables capacity to about 268 MW.
SriLankan Aviation College marked SriLankan Airlines' 47th anniversary with a special edition of its 'The Skyline Stories' talk series, featuring pioneering aviators and current pilots to celebrate the carrier's legacy and give students firsthand career and industry insights.
Visa supported the Scale Up 2.0 National SME Forum 2026 as Platinum Partner, promoting digital payments, cross-border commerce and digital capability-building to help Sri Lankan SMEs scale, improve competitiveness and access new markets.
SLID Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody used the institute's 25th anniversary to call for stronger corporate governance and for directors to become 'future-ready' amid AI, geopolitical and climate risks. He noted listed firms rose from about 240 to ~290 and market capitalisation from ~Rs.100bn to over Rs.8tr, and highlighted SLID education programs, a national summit and awards.
Daily FT·Sep 18, 2026·Award or certification·JINSPositive
Great Place To Work Sri Lanka unveiled the 20 winners of Great Workplaces for Young Talent 2026, selected from assessments of nearly 80,000 employees (including over 48,000 under-35s). Janashakthi Insurance PLC is listed among the winners; selection required a minimum 70% Trust Index score and strong young-talent perception.
Ivan Peries's painting "The Well" sold for $640,000 at Christie's South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction in New York, setting a new auction record for a Sri Lankan-born artist. The work is one of his seven monumental 'panel paintings' and was shown at the 1958 Venice Biennale.
Women in Management Global launched the Business & Leadership Night 2026, combining the Women MSME Awards, NextTier Mentorship & Awards and a Respectful Workplace Audit & Certification on 9 December to promote skills, women-led enterprise and international workplace practices. The NextTier programme will select 35 participants and the certification is limited to 15 organisations.
Amana Bank PLC marked its 15th anniversary by ringing the market opening bell on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The bank noted its position as one of Sri Lanka's few banks operating fully disengaged from interest-based transactions.
The Cabinet approved hosting the SAARC Energy Centre's workshop 'Financial Modelling for Renewable Energy Projects' in Colombo from 5 to 7 October 2026; SAARC will provide local hospitality and airport transport (airfare excluded) and the event will include two representatives from each SAARC member.
Union Bank of Colombo has partnered with Toyota Lanka to offer exclusive vehicle leasing and loan solutions for Toyota customers, featuring low monthly rentals and extended repayment periods of up to seven years along with value-added benefits.
DFCC Bank launched Sri Lanka's first eight-language ATM and Cash Recycler Machine experience (English, Sinhala, Tamil, French, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, German) across its ATM and CRM network using BPC's SmartVista payments infrastructure, including at Bandaranaike International Airport.
Chamber of Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) Chairman Suren Chandraratne and Immediate Past Chairman Manjula Wijesundera participated at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance 2026 in Vienna to strengthen international business ties and promote Sri Lanka as an investment destination.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka has entered a path of economic stability and the government will use it as a foundation for a transformative era. An IMF mission in Colombo for the seventh EFF review commended fiscal discipline and noted 4.2% Q2 growth.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka will build on the economic stability achieved under the IMF's EFF programme after an IMF mission commended progress including higher revenues, foreign investment and a stabilized currency; rising energy costs from the Middle East conflict were also discussed.
Sri Lanka's rupee closed at 331.50/90 to the US dollar, firmer from 332.00/40 at the open. Government bond yields recovered/edged down across the curve, e.g. the 15.09.2027 bond at 9.90/10.05% and the 15.09.2029 at 10.90/11.00%.
Colombo Stock Exchange fell as the ASPI dropped 0.47% (−100.30 pts) to 21,033.11 and the S&P SL20 fell 0.30% to 5,929.45; market turnover was LKR 1.33bn, led by capital goods (LKR 282.3m). Investors cited slowing GDP momentum, US midterms and possible crude oil price rises as factors.
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy Affairs approved an Order to call for investment proposals for exploration and development of petroleum resources in Sri Lanka; the Order was published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2497/37 on 16 July 2026 and requires submission of proposals with the specified administrative fee for identified blocks.
CBSL's Business Outlook Survey shows the Business Condition Index eased to 101 in Q2 2026 from 104 in Q1 but remained marginally above the 100 expansion threshold; the Central Bank projects a rebound to 107 in Q3 as firms expect easing global tensions.
Sri Lanka sold Rs10,000 million of treasury bills on tap at an average rate of 9.18%, including a 3‑month bill at 9.24%, bringing total bills sold this week to Rs70.01 billion; total market subscription was Rs10,000 million.
Applied Materials will invest $5 billion in India over the next decade to expand research, scale up its supply chain and grow its workforce, the US semiconductor equipment maker said at SEMICON India.
Central Bank's Purchasing Managers Index for Sri Lanka's services sector rose to 65.6 in August 2026 from 61.4 in July, signalling faster expansion led by transportation, wholesale & retail trade and professional services; employment and new-business measures also increased.
Asia Asset Finance PLC's rights issue of 45,162,012 shares at Rs.33.30 (targeting ~Rs.1.504bn) was oversubscribed, receiving applications totalling ~Rs.1.937bn-about Rs.432.49m above the target. The new capital strengthens the company's capital adequacy and supports planned expansion and resilience.
GSMA Intelligence and Huawei report, unveiled at UNESCO's Digital Learning Week, finds 38% of people covered by mobile broadband remain offline and a digital skills gap affects 3.1 billion people; closing the gap could add about $3.5 trillion to global GDP by 2030.
High Grown tea production fell to 3.1 million kg in August 2026, the lowest monthly level in 34 years, cutting total national tea output 3.7% YoY to 18.9 million kg; Jan-Aug cumulative production is 172.2 million kg versus 176.9 million kg a year earlier.
Colombo market slipped 0.61% to a six-week low as the ASPI closed at 21,133.41 amid rising oil prices and fears of an interest-rate hike; 172 counters fell, turnover was over Rs.1.6bn and foreign investors were net sellers of Rs.8m.
DFCC Bank PLC disclosed Type A applications for its up to Rs.12.5bn Basel III-compliant Tier-2 debenture issue totalled 147.68 million debentures (Rs.14.77bn) across 117 applications, exceeding the 125 million offer; cheque/RTGS payments were 108.68m (Rs.10.87bn) and bank guarantees 39m (Rs.3.9bn).
The Public Debt Management Office raised the full Rs.70 billion offer as Treasury Bill weighted-average yields rose for the first time in 11 weeks, 91-day 9.18% (+15bp), 182-day 9.36% (+12bp) and 364-day 9.88% (+11bp). Secondary bond yields and money-market rates climbed and the USD/LKR closed around Rs.332.
Global markets traded mixed as the Fed is widely expected to lift rates by 25 basis points; the US 10-year yield rose to 5.04%. Brent crude fell to $108.1/barrel and gold dipped to $4,321/oz, while the US dollar eased slightly.
The Cabinet approved an additional Rs. 2,500 million reimbursement to the Paddy Marketing Board to ensure uninterrupted Yala-season paddy purchases. The Board has bought 67,156 tons (vs. an original target of 35,500) costing Rs. 8,221 million, with Ampara supplying 19,426 tons (Rs. 2,350 million).