By Imesh Ranasinghe The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) closed in the red yesterday (20), despite the arrival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team in Sri Lanka, while protestors took to the streets demanding fuel on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s birthday. The All-Share Price Index was down by 47.83 points (-0.64%) to 7,424.5 from the previous day’s close of 7,472.3, while the S&P SL20 was down by 3.73 (-0.16%) to 2,364.9. A total of 38.5 million shares were traded within the day, with a turnover of Rs. 822 million Expolanka recorded the highest turnover of Rs. 207 million for the day with a 1.3 million share volume, and the share price increased by Rs. 1.00 (0.62%) to Rs. 161.50, while Vallibel One (VONE) saw a share volume of 1.08 million and a turnover of Rs. 35.9 million.Vallibel One, Lanka IOC PLC (LIOC), and ExpoLanka (EXPO) were the top performers in the ASPI with gains of 7.5, 4.0, and 1.9 points, respectively, while Dipped Products PLC (DIDP) lost 3.6 points in the index, and Central Finance Company PLC (CFIN) and Asian Hotels and Properties PLC (AHPL) each lost 3.5.The top gainer in share prices was Hapugastenne Plantations PLC, with a share gain of Rs. 3.80 (16.52%), while Blue Diamonds Jewellery Worldwide PLC lost share price by Rs. 0.10 (-25%) to Rs. 0.30, becoming the top loser of the day.
