Business
Stock market ends the week with a bullish run
By Hiran H.Senewiratne
The stock market yesterday witnessed a significant performance due to satisfactory participation level of both institutional and retail market investors due to conducive market situation in the external and internal environment, market analysts said.
Amid those developments banking sector counters performed well especially with HNB. Therefore, both indices moved upwards. All Share Price Index up by 57.59 points while S and P SL20 up by 44.05 points. Turnover stood at Rs 4.7 billion with five crossings.
Those crossings were reported in HNB, which crossed 5.7 million shares to the tune of Rs 1.2 billion and its share price traded at Rs 219, Sampath Bank 7.8 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 666 million and its share price traded at Rs 85, CIC Holdings one million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 77 million and its share price traded at Rs 77, Hemas Holdings 900,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 74.4 million and its share price traded at Rs 82.70 and Central Bank 450,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 55 million and its share price traded at Rs 123.50.
In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were JKH Rs 442 million (2.1 million shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 336 million (4.2 million shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 132 million (1.1 million shares traded), HNB Rs 129 million (587,000 shares traded). Access Engineering Rs 91.1 million (3.6 million shares traded), Digital Mobility Solutions Rs 82 million (1.6 million shares traded) and Central Finance Rs 81.3 million (656,000 shares traded). During the day 135 million share volumes changed hands in 18000 transactions.
It is said that the Banking sector contributed almost half of the turnover escpoaily HNB crossing , which contributed Rs 1.2 billion to the turnover. Manufacturing sector was the second largest turnover for the market, especially JKH.
Yesterday, Central Bank announced the US dollar rate. The rupee opened at Rs 293.60/65 to the US dollar ,stronger from Rs 293.78/82 to the US dollar on the previous day day, while bond yields were largely unchanged, dealers said.
A bond maturing on 15.12.2026 was quoted at 10.55/70 percent Friday up from 10.50/70 percent Thursday.A bond maturing on 15.12.2027 was quoted at 11.50/55 percent lower from 11.50/55 percent.
A bond maturing on 15.03.2028 was quoted 10.75/80 percent unchanged from 11.75/80 percent.A bond maturing on 15.06.2029 was quoted at 12.03/05 percent, up from 11.95/12.10 percent. A bond maturing on 15.05.2030 was quoted at 12.15/25 perc
Ceylinco Life’s Ambalantota branch agent AIP Manjula has been named one of three global finalists for the prestigious Insurance Agent of the Year award at the 11th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards (ATLAA) 2026.
The recognition places a Sri Lankan insurance professional among the finalists in a regional field spanning South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Ceylinco Life said the achievement reflected the calibre and customer-focused approach of its agency force, while recognising Manjula’s professionalism and commitment to policyholders.
The award evaluates insurance agents on criteria extending beyond sales performance, including ethical conduct, client service, policy persistency, digital adoption, innovative practices and contributions to the insurance industry and community.
The awards are organised by Asia Advisers Network and Asia Insurance Review, with LIMRA as co-organiser. An independent judging and balloting process is monitored by KPMG as the official scrutineer. The judging panel comprises senior insurance executives, association presidents and industry experts from across the Asia-Pacific region.
CEAT Kelani Holdings (CKH) has retained its National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA+(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings for the sixth consecutive year, reflecting the company’s financial resilience and leading position in Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre market.
The ‘AA+(lka)’ rating, the second-highest on Fitch’s national scale, indicates a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.
Fitch said CKH’s established market leadership and resilient financial profile remained key strengths, while noting its exposure to price-sensitive, cyclical and highly competitive markets.
The Stable Outlook reflects expectations that the company will maintain its market position despite rising input costs and increasing competition from imported tyres, while preserving adequate credit metrics during periods of weaker earnings and higher investment.
Fitch expects CKH’s established brand, extensive dealer network and adaptive pricing strategies to support its market position. Planned production facility upgrades are also expected to improve product quality, particularly in the radial tyre segment.
The rating agency expects near-term pressure on margins from higher raw material and energy costs but said the company’s low leverage and sound liquidity would provide a cushion.
CKH Chairman Chanaka De Silva said the rating reinforced the company’s focus on disciplined financial management, operational adaptability and long-term investment.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise, the enterprise services arm of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, has launched its Premium Cloud service powered by Nutanix, aimed at helping Sri Lankan businesses modernise their IT infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation.
The service was unveiled at the Lanka Tech Summit 2026 held recently at ITC Ratnadipa, Colombo.
The Premium Cloud combines hybrid multi-cloud capabilities with enterprise-grade performance, enabling businesses to run mission-critical workloads, scale cloud deployments and strengthen business continuity through disaster recovery capabilities.
Hosted on SLT-MOBITEL’s Tier III data centre infrastructure, the platform is designed to provide enhanced security, reliability and flexibility while supporting the growing technology requirements of enterprises.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise said the platform would also support organisations seeking to adopt AI-ready capabilities and improve the management and performance of IT workloads.
A key feature of the launch was SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise joining the Nutanix Elevate Service Provider Program (NESPP), which the company said made it the first service provider in the region to join the programme.
Powered by Nutanix’s hybrid multicloud platform, the service enables application and data mobility across on-premises environments, public clouds and edge locations.
The company said the partnership combined Nutanix’s cloud technology with SLT-MOBITEL’s local expertise and support, strengthening its multi-cloud portfolio.
Buttler out of Oval decider as Lawrence earns ODI call-up
Showers will occur in the Western, Eastern, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts.
Nor’easter brings flooding as New York and New Jersey declare emergency 2 hours ago
Trump rejects Iran deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz in seven days
Govt plans to hire 121,000 state workers, redistribute tax revenue
Parliament clears 22A amid protests
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News6 days agoHatton youth protest against reported death sentence for Lankan in Saudi Arabia
-
News4 days agoMastermind Naufer Moulavi among 15 found guilty
-
News5 days agoProtest against setting up of cement factory in highly populated area near BIA
-
News6 days agoMahaweli rises as heavy rain triggers flood, landslide fears
-
Latest News7 days agoLandslide Red Alerts issued to the districts of Kandy, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya
-
Midweek Review4 days agoThileepan’s fast unto death: An authentic narrative that many missed
-
Editorial5 days agoTrouble beginning in earnest
-
Editorial4 days ago
Big Bad Bills