Sri Lanka, April 7 -- 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 tri...