Sri Lankan shares close at five-year high on consumer staples boost

Sri Lankan shares ended 1.8% higher on Monday, closing at a more than five-year high, driven by gains in consumer staples and industrial stocks.

The CSE All Share Index ended up 1.78% at 6,894.98, its highest closing level since early Dec. 2015.

Meanwhile, laying out its monetary and financial sector policy road map for the new year on Monday, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said it intended to establish a permanent single digit interest rate structure in the economy.

"We will remain focused on maintaining market interest rates at single digit levels going forward. The business community will benefit from low-cost borrowing facilities corresponding to a low interest rate regime," the central bank said.

The index gained 10.5% in 2020, its best performance since 2014.

Trading volume on the index rose to 380.20 million on Monday from 187.07 million in the previous session.

Cigarette maker Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC and Browns Investments Plc were the biggest boosts to the index, ending 5.5% and 11.6% higher, respectively.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading 321.7 million Sri Lankan rupees ($1.73 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 186 against the US dollar as of 11:48 GMT, according to Refinitiv data.

Equity market turnover was about 5 billion rupees, exchange data showed.