Why Colombo Stock Market Was Held Today ?
Today, Wednesday, January 7, 2026 , the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) experienced a major disruption that led to a market halt and the eventual cancellation of all morning trades. What Happened? The trading was halted shortly after the market opened (around 9:53 a.m.) due to a technical error involving the newly listed company, WealthTrust Securities Limited. In simple terms, an "error trade" occurred where shares were accidentally traded at a wildly incorrect price. Specifically: The company was supposed to trade around its IPO price of Rs. 7.00. Instead, a trade was executed at a staggering Rs. 25,000 per share. This caused the market's total "turnover" (the total value of all trades) to jump to a fake high of over Rs. 162 billion in just minutes. Why was it "Halted"? The CSE has "circuit breakers" and monitoring systems to protect investors. When the system detected these "irregular prices," it hit the emergency brakes to prevent ...