Colombo bourse ends ’25 higher

• ASPI gains again on final trading day

Sri Lanka’s stock market closed out 2025 on an upbeat note on the year’s final trading day, with both key indices extending gains and the All Share Price Index (ASPI) ending at 22,624.31, up from 22,445.89 a day earlier.

The S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index also finished higher, closing at 6,157.38 compared with 6,111.35 in the previous session, as trading ended on December 31 with turnover in equities at Rs. 4,654,880,727.

Total market capitalisation stood at Rs. 8,068,623,661,533 as at 31 December, down from Rs. 8,122,784,730,992 recorded at the end of the previous month. The year-to-date change shown for market capitalisation was 41.67%.

On the year, the ASPI’s comparison table showed a year opening level of 15,944.61, a year high of 23,659.70 and a year low of 14,660.45, translating into a 41.89% change for 2025. The S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index opened the year at 4,862.10, hit a year high of 6,557.60 and a year low of 4,264.84, with a 26.64% change over the year.

Domestic activity dominated turnover, with domestic purchases valued at Rs. 4,566,577,813 and domestic sales at Rs. 4,463,298,635. Foreign purchases were Rs. 88,302,914, while domestic trading volume was recorded at 191,582,092 shares and foreign volume at 122,809,973 shares.

Among the day’s biggest gainers, SMB Finance rose 33.33% to Rs. 0.40 from Rs. 0.30, while ACL Plastics gained 15.36% to Rs. 191.50 from Rs. 166.00. Merchant Bank closed up 14.41% at Rs. 114.75, and HNB Assurance ended 12.50% higher at Rs. 1,315.25. Sierra Cables advanced 7.62% to Rs. 35.30 and led turnover among the top gainers with Rs. 485,916,015.50.

On the decliners’ list, Mercantile Shipping fell 7.91% to Rs. 177.50 from Rs. 192.75, while Dockyard dropped 6.58% to Rs. 525.00 from Rs. 562.00, with Dockyard posting turnover of Rs. 322,747,827.50. Colombo City Holdings slid 5.44% to Rs. 126.00, Bogala Graphite declined 5.37% to Rs. 158.50, and Autodrome eased 4.98% to Rs. 210.00.

SOURCE - The Morning