Sri Lankan stocks gain on first trading day of 2023

COLOMBO, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan stocks gained on the first trading day of 2023, with a total turnover of 1.87 billion rupees (5.15 million U.S. dollars) at the end of trading on Monday.

The All-Share Price Index (ASPI), which measures the movements of the overall market, gained 0.23 percent, while the Standard & Poor's Sri Lanka 20 (S&P SL20), which follows the performance of 20 leading publicly traded companies listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange, gained 0.19 percent.

A total of 130,909,391 shares were traded, according to data from the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE).

Analysts told media that investors' confidence rose as Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Nandalal Weerasinghe said steps will be taken in 2023 to reduce interest rates.

Sri Lankan stocks lost over 30 percent in 2022, according to CSE.