Sri Lankan shares close lower as US tariffs rattle Asian markets

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday, in line with other Asian countries hit with reciprocal tariffs from the U.S. Materials, industrials and energy stocks led the losses.

The CSE All-Share index settled 2.19% lower at 15,657.60 points.

The U.S. on Wednesday imposed a reciprocal tariff rate of 44% on Sri Lanka.

Harischandra Mills and The Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company were the top losers by index points, down 200 points and 125.25 points respectively, on the day.

Trading volume on the index rose to 123.79 million shares from 79.56 million shares in the previous session.

IT and materials lift Sri Lankan shares higher

The equity market’s turnover rose to 3.83 billion Sri Lankan rupees from 2.30 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 203.78 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 3.63 billion rupees, the data showed.