Sri Lankan shares close above 8,000 mark for first time in over 5 months

Sri Lankan shares on Monday closed above the 8,000 level for the first time since Feb. 8, helped by gains in heavyweight industrial stocks.

The CSE All-Share index ended up 0.70% at 8,022.55.

Conglomerates Expolanka Holdings Plc and LOLC Holdings were the top boosts to the index, gaining 15.6% and 4.5%, respectively.

A total of 1,420 coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the island nation's total confirmed cases to 284,932, while deaths rose by 46 to reach a total of 3,779, according to health ministry data.

Sri Lankan shares snap five-day streak of gains as financials weigh

The country has fully vaccinated about 7.65% of its population so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

Trading volume on the exchange rose to 439 million shares from 219.1 million shares in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 1.02 billion rupees ($5.13 million), exchange data showed.

The equity market's turnover was 6.22 billion rupees, according to exchange data.