CSE in September 2026: Sectors Ranked by Relative Strength

Data runs from 1 to 25 September 2026 (the last trading day before publication) and comes from CeylonCharts’ daily Colombo Stock Exchange data. It’s a month-to-date view, not the final September close.

The market in one line

The All Share Price Index (ASI) fell 1.4% month to date, from 21,338.69 to 21,037.35. The blue-chip S&P SL20 fell 1.2%, from 6,018.37 to 5,948.48. The ASI is now trading below its 10-, 21-, 50- and 200-day moving averages, so the broad market’s short- and long-term trends both point down for now.

Sectors ranked by relative strength

A month’s change shows only the last few weeks. The RS Rating looks further back: it ranks each sector index’s weighted price performance over the past 3, 6, 9 and 12 months against every rated CSE stock, on a 1–99 scale (see the Methodology). The last column shows whether the sector index is above its 200-day exponential moving average, a simple long-term trend test.

”—” means the sector wasn’t among the month’s eight best or eight worst performers, so its monthly change isn’t shown. Real Estate doesn’t have enough history for an RS Rating yet.

What stands out

• Only three sectors are in long-term uptrends. Telecommunication Services, Transportation and Materials are the only sector indices above their 200-day EMA. Telecoms is also above its 10-, 21- and 50-day averages, so its trend is intact at every timeframe.
• Materials was the best-performing sector in September (+1.8%), and its RS Rating of 73 says the strength isn’t just a one-month bounce.
• Commercial & Professional Services is the odd one out. It still has a respectable RS Rating of 72 from earlier gains, but it fell 8.3% this month and now sits below all its moving averages. A strong RS Rating paired with a breaking short-term trend is often an early sign that leadership is fading.
• Automobiles & Components had the worst month (−9.1%). Consumer-facing sectors (Consumer Services, Consumer Durables & Apparel) and Diversified Financials have the weakest relative strength on the market.

Where the money traded

John Keells Holdings dominated activity. It had the most shares traded (111.7 million) and the highest turnover (LKR 2.17 billion) of any stock this month. More than 60% of that volume, 68.5 million shares across 28 trades, came through crossings (large negotiated block trades), which points to institutional repositioning rather than retail buying.

The rest of the turnover top five: Sampath Bank (LKR 1.56 bn), Sunshine Holdings (LKR 1.42 bn), Lanka Milk Foods (LKR 1.02 bn) and Dipped Products (LKR 0.98 bn).

Biggest movers of the month

Treat these with care. Several of the biggest percentage moves came in very low-priced shares: SMB Finance’s non-voting shares went from LKR 0.20 to 0.30, and Industrial Asphalts from 0.60 to 0.70. At those prices a single 10-cent tick is a double-digit move. A drop as large as Pegasus Hotels’ (−51.9%) often reflects a corporate action, such as a large dividend going XD or a share split, rather than a straight sell-off. Check the company’s announcements before drawing conclusions.

Colombo City Holdings stands out among the gainers: it’s one of the stocks with an RS Rating of 90 or more that’s also above its 50- and 200-day averages, and on 25 September it traded at 87% above its 50-day average volume.

How to follow along

Every table in this post is built from screens you can run yourself. Use the Relative Performance and MA Scan tabs in the CeylonCharts screener, and the Sectors page for live sector rankings. We’ll publish the next review after the October close.