Regular trading at the Colombo Stock Exchange has been temporarily halted due to the S&P SL20 index dropping over 5 per cent from the previous close.

The market has been halted for 30 minutes, the CSE said.

Accordingly, the market was halted for sixteen minutes from 9.51 a.m. to 10.07 a.m. and the CSE conducted an Auction Session for a duration of fourteen minutes from 10.07 a.m. to 10.21 a.m. 

Thereafter, the Regular Trading session re-commenced at 10.21 a.m.

S&P SL20 index fell 240.45 points or 5.3% to 4,292.90 and the All Share Price Index (ASPI) also fell 4.16% or 639.01 points in early trade to 14,734.34, the CSE added. 

Trading at CSE is suspended if stocks fall below 5 per cent from previous close which triggers the circuit breaker set out by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka.

Earlier, Asian markets plunged, deepening a global stocks rout triggered by US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei fell by more than 8% shortly after opening.
The share average, which tracks 225 of the country’s most valuable companies, has fallen below the 33,000 level for the first time since August 2024, according to Reuters. 

The broader Topix index last traded more than 7.5% lower, recovering from its steepest losses.

Asian markets are tracking the worst two-day stretche for Wall Street stocks in five years. US stock futures plunged Sunday evening after two sessions of sell-offs that wiped away over $5.4 trillion in market value.

Global investors have rejected President Trump’s massive tariff regime, some of which went into effect on Saturday morning and even larger tariffs are set to launch on Wednesday. China retaliated fiercely on Friday, imposing a 34% tariff on all US goods, raising fears of an escalating and damaging trade war.