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.
CBSL's Business Condition Index eased to 101 in Q2 2026 from 104 in Q1 but is projected to recover to 107 in Q3. The Q2 slowdown was driven by weaker Agriculture and Industry sentiment while Services remained resilient; firms reported higher input/output prices, rising bank credit demand and tight labour availability.
Sri Lanka's rupee was quoted at 332.00/40 to the US dollar on Thursday, weaker than the prior session's 330.70/331.20; local government bond yields largely consolidated, with 2030-2034 maturities rising to about 11.45-12.10%.
Sri Lanka's Treasury bill yields rose across maturities at Wednesday's auction and all Rs70 billion offered were sold. The 3-month yield rose 15bp to 9.18% (Rs25bn sold), the 6-month was up 12bp to 9.36% (Rs25bn), and the 12-month rose 11bp to 9.88% (Rs20bn).
Secondary government bond yields rose for a second straight session, with short-to-belly maturities trading around 10.95%-11.50%; a Rs.70 billion Treasury Bill auction (Rs.25b 91-day, Rs.25b 182-day, Rs.20b 364-day) is scheduled today. The rupee weakened to Rs.330.65/331.10 against the US dollar.
The PDMO raised the full Rs. 70,000 million at today's T‑bill auction while weighted average yields rose across all tenors: 91-day 9.18% (+15bps), 182-day 9.36% (+12bps) and 364-day 9.88% (+11bps). Total bids were Rs. 171,601 million (2.4x the offer); settlement Sep 18, 2026.
Asian stocks edged higher, with MSCI's Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index up 0.5%, as a pause in the global bond selloff steadied markets ahead of a widely expected 25bp Federal Reserve rate hike; Brent crude slipped about 0.6% to $108.13 a barrel.
Sri Lanka's rupee was at 330.70/331.20 to the US dollar on Wednesday, slightly weaker than the prior day, while government bond yields were quoted steady to lower on selected tenors. A 70,000 million rupee Treasury bill auction was ongoing.
Sri Lanka's rupee closed weaker at 330.70/331.00 to the US dollar, down from 329.15/329.35 the previous day, while government bond yields rose across maturities (e.g. 15.09.2027 at 9.90/10.20% and 15.12.2029 at about 10.92/11.00%).
WindForce PLC postponed a proposed LKR4 billion senior unsecured debenture issuance and Fitch has withdrawn the 'A(lka)' rating on those notes after the company decided not to issue due to rising market interest rates. The notes had been rated one notch below WindForce's A+(lka)/Stable.
Sri Lanka sold Rs8 billion of Treasury bonds on tap at average rates set at last week's auction, taking weekly bond sales to Rs158 billion. The tap included a 15 Oct 2034 issue (yield 11.96%) and a 1 Jul 2037 issue (yield 12.08%); settlement 15 Sep 2026.
Asian shares wavered as oil rose (U.S. crude $102.68/bbl, Brent $106.96) and global bond yields climbed ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings, with markets pricing roughly a 90% chance of a 25bp Fed hike. Middle East tensions and AI slowdown calls added to caution.
Sri Lanka's rupee weakened to 330.15/25 per US dollar in the spot market (from 329.15/35), while government bond yields rose. Quoted yields included 15.10.2028 at 10.45-10.65%, 15.12.2029 at 10.75-10.90% and 01.08.2030 at 11.10-11.20%.
The secondary bond market opened the week bearish as yields rose across maturities-several mid- to long-dated yields trading around 11%-12% (e.g., 01.12.31 11.52%-11.62%; 01.07.37 12.05%-12.08%)-while the rupee weakened to Rs.329.15/329.35 per USD. Money-market liquidity showed a surplus of Rs.131.40bn with the Central Bank absorbing Rs.76.50bn via repo auctions and Rs.58.06bn parked at the SDFR.
Sri Lanka's rupee closed weaker at 329.15/35 per US dollar (from 328.90/329.00), while government bond yields rose across maturities, e.g., the 15.12.2029 was quoted at 10.70/85% (up from 10.60/65%) and the 15.10.2034 at 11.93/12.00%.
JPMorgan will launch its GBI-EM Edge frontier market local-currency government bond index by end-September, with Sri Lanka among the top-weighted countries and the index set to track about $330 billion of debt. The index will cover 26 countries, require minimum bond sizes of $250m, cap country weights at 8% and has back-tested nominal yields of roughly 10.4%.
Foreign investors bought a net 2,750 million rupees (US$8.5m) of Sri Lanka rupee bonds in the week to Sept 11, lifting foreign holdings to 213.4 billion rupees and marking 13 consecutive weeks of net inflows totalling 92 billion rupees since June 19.
Sri Lanka's rupee was quoted at 328.90/329.00 to the US dollar on Monday, weakening slightly, while government bond yields held broadly steady (e.g. 15.03.2028 at 10.00/15%; 01.06.2033 at 11.55/70%). The All Share Index rose 0.01% to 21,385.44 and the S&P SL20 gained 0.23% to 6,016.49.
Foreign holdings of rupee Treasuries rose by Rs 2.75 billion in the week to 10 Sept, taking total foreign holdings to Rs 213.40 billion. Money-market liquidity climbed to Rs 366.11 billion, call and repo rates were 8.87% and 8.95%, and secondary bond yields and recent Treasury auction weighted averages moved slightly higher.
Sri Lanka sold Rs150 billion of government bonds: Rs70bn of 01 Aug 2030 at an average yield of 10.83%, Rs50bn of 15 Oct 2034 at 11.96%, and Rs30bn of 01 Jul 2037 at 12.08%; all three bonds are available on tap.
Sri Lanka sold Rs120 billion of government bonds across 2030, 2034 and 2037 maturities, with average yields of 10.83% for 01-Aug-2030, 11.96% for 15-Oct-2034 and 12.08% for 01-Jul-2037; all three issues were sold in full and are available on tap.
Oil prices slipped on Friday but were up over 7% for the week, Brent $103.88/bbl, WTI $99.15/bbl, as attacks near key Middle East shipping routes and other disruptions pushed U.S. diesel to a record above $6/gal. European Central Bank officials also signalled the possibility of further rate rises if energy-driven inflation persists.
Sri Lanka sold Rs8,000 million of treasury bills on tap at an average yield of 9.24%, bringing this week's total T-bill sales to Rs88 billion, the public debt management office said. Total market subscription was Rs8,000 million and earlier this week the office raised Rs80 billion of 3-, 6- and 12-month bills.
Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC received CSE approval to list up to Rs.5 billion of unsecured senior redeemable debentures and will initially issue up to 30 million debentures to raise Rs.3 billion. The offer comprises five- and seven-year tenors with coupons yielding about 13%-13.15%; subscription opens 15 Sep 2026.
CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe warned reserve accumulation 'cannot be at any cost', saying excessive intervention, monetary expansion or external borrowing can undermine stability and that sustainable reserve rebuilding needs fiscal and monetary support; he also urged defined roles for gold and digital assets in reserve portfolios.
AIIB Treasurer Domenico Nardelli told the Reserve Management Conference in Colombo that central banks should hold larger liquidity buffers and diversify by asset type and jurisdiction because shocks now arrive faster and more often. He noted the US dollar still held a 57% share of official reserves, highlighted large swings in Treasury yields and gold, and said AIIB uses in-house AI tools to speed portfolio analysis.
Secondary bond market was subdued ahead of today's Treasury Bond auctions offering Rs.150 billion across three maturities (Rs.70bn 01-Aug-2030 at 10%; Rs.50bn 15-Oct-2034 at 11.70%; Rs.30bn 01-Jul-2037 at 10.75%). Net liquidity surplus stood at Rs.116.19bn and USD/LKR closed around Rs.328.55.
Global bond yields spiked and equities fell after Brent crude jumped to $109.97/bbl, pushing the 10-year US Treasury yield to about 4.97% and prompting markets to price in further central bank tightening amid higher inflation risks.
CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe urged global reserve managers to prioritise liquidity and build foreign-exchange buffers amid geopolitical fragmentation, warning that inadequate reserves constrain imports, debt servicing and policy response. He advocated broader risk-based adequacy metrics, cautioned against uncalculated diversification and noted renewed central-bank interest in gold.
HNB PLC on 01 June 2026 launched a leasing scheme with Automobile Technologies to make GAC vehicles, including electric models, more accessible by offering special vehicle-leasing interest rates. The offer also includes a waived first-year credit-card annual fee and discounted vehicle insurance via HNB General Insurance.
Sri Lanka's rupee closed at 328.45/60 to the US dollar on Thursday, marginally firmer than 328.60/80 the previous day; government bond yields rose on several tenors (e.g. the 15.09.2027 tenor to about 9.75-9.95%).