Colombo bourse mildly toasts new president

Stockmarkets in Colombo began to pick up after opening lower on Monday following Sri Lanka’s presidential election over the weekend and new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the NPP (National People’s Power), sworn in at 10 am after winning the poll in a historic second round of counting.

The All Share Price Index was up 1.19 per cent to close at 1,096.81 while the S&P SL20 was up 1.88 per cent, to close at 3,160.63 with Rs. 49.1 million turnover.

A stock market analyst said they are open to understanding what needs to be done in the future from industry specialists. “This will help the government to understand and move in the right direction.”

The CEO of a stock broking firm said that on Sunday, some (ruling) NPP members had met with a few Colombo Stockbrokers Association (CSBA) members to discuss going forward. He said the CSBA will be sending their proposal to the new government within two weeks.

In Saturday’s presidential election, during the first round of counting, no candidate received more than 50 per cent of the total votes as required to be declared a winner, with Mr. Dissanayake receiving 42.31 per cent and his closest challenger, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, receiving 32.76 per cent.

Mr. Dissanayake, who promised voters good governance and robust anti-corruption measures, emerged as the winner in the second count, which included voters' second and third choices. (DEC)