Trading at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) was temporarily halted for 30 minutes from 11.09 am to 11.39 am this morning (12) as S&P SL20 index dropped by 5% during the trading session.

Here, The S&P SL20 index fell 88.50 points or 5.03% to 1,672.03, during the trading session, triggering the first circuit breaker threshold leading to a temporary halt in stock market trading, as per a new directive by the regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

However, when trading at the CSE recommenced at 11.39 am, a remarkable event was reported.The stock market turnover crossed Rs. 3 billion mark with a single crossing recorded from Watawala Plantations PLC.

Here, 150,937,043  shares of Estate Management Services (Private) Limited, the largest shareholder of Watawala Plantation were traded at Rs. 20 per share. The total value of this transaction exceeded Rs. 3 billion.