Sri Lankan shares tumble

Sri Lankan shares closed at their lowest level in more than three months on Monday, falling for a fifth straight session as investors awaited cues from government policies and budget, brokers said. The main stock index ended 0.05 percent, or 3.39 points, weaker at 7,017.35, its lowest close since July 13. "There is no excitement. There is a lot of clutter regarding what to expect from the budget," said Danushka Samarasinghe, research head at Softlogic stockbrokers.
Turnover stood at 1.2 billion rupees ($8.5 million), compared with this year's daily average of 1.1 billion rupees. Foreign investors were net sellers of 174.4 million rupees worth of shares on Monday, extending the year to date net foreign outflow to 2.91 billion rupees worth of equities.