CSE falls steeply in Ditwah's wake, opens December in red

THE Colombo stock market yesterday opened December and a new week with a steep decline in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah which ravaged the country over the weekend.

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The benchmark index fell sharply to a low 21,904.21 within the first half hour of trading yesterday and then recovered to nearly 22,400 points but gradually declined.

The ASPI closed down 3.04% or 690.76 points to 22,022.06 and the active S&P SL20 lost 2.89% or 181.16 points to 6,085.87.

Market turnover was over Rs. 5.2 billion on nearly 236.5 million shares traded. Foreign investors were net sellers with net outflow totalling over Rs. 106.2 million.

First Capital Research said the Colombo Bourse opened with a sharp decline as panic selling swept the market following adverse weather conditions.