The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has maintained a market-wide trading halt throughout January 7, 2026, following irregular pricing in early transactions of newly listed Wealthtrust Securities Limited. As captured in the latest attention from the CSE website at approximately 14:25 local time, the market status remains Halt, with no resumption announced yet.
The day started on a positive note for Wealthtrust Securities Limited (ticker: WLTH.N0000), a financial services firm debuting on the CSE’s Diri Savi Board. Company representatives rang the opening bell earlier this morning, celebrating the start of trading after a highly oversubscribed Initial Public Offering (IPO) priced at LKR 7.00 per share.
However, shortly after the market opened at 9:00 AM, certain transactions in Wealthtrust shares were executed at irregular prices, prompting immediate regulatory action. The official CSE notice explains that these anomalies “may have had an effect on the buying power of investors.”
To preserve market fairness, the CSE halted trading across the board
CSE Chief Executive Officer Rajeeva Bandaranaike described the trigger as an “erroneous trade” on the debutant’s shares at opening. Sources consistently characterize the issue as a technical error, with no indications of intentional misconduct.
With approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the CSE has implemented the following steps:
- Cancellation of all equity security transactions executed prior to the halt.
- Purging of all orders entered after 9:00 AM on January 7, 2026.
- Traders are required to re-enter orders into the Order Management System once processing is complete.
Trading will resume only after these cancellations and purges are fully executed, though no specific timeline has been provided.
The chart from cse.lk at 14:25:27 shows the following pre-halt market data (which will be voided upon resumption):
- ASPI: 23,294.45 (+1.54 points, +0.01%)
- S&P SL20: 6,444.84 (+80.99 points, +1.27%)
- Share Volume: 18,284,480
- Number of Trades: 23
- Turnover: LKR 3,939,090,730.00
These limited early figures reflect minimal activity before the halt took effect, highlighting how quickly the issue was identified and addressed.
The incident remains isolated to the opening trades in Wealthtrust Securities, but the market-wide halt ensures no broader distortions from affected buying power. Investors and brokers are advised to monitor official CSE channels for the resumption notice.
Wealthtrust’s successful IPO and debut underscore ongoing interest in Sri Lanka’s capital markets, and the swift response aims to protect that confidence.
LankaBizNews will update this story as soon as trading resumes or further details emerge from the CSE.
