Sri Lanka shares end lower as energy, consumer staples drag; June inflation rises

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Friday, dragged by energy and consumer staple stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.37% lower at 12,143.76.

The index is down 0.86% for the week, marking its third straight weekly fall.

Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate rose in June to 1.7% year-on-year from 0.9% in May, the statistics department said on Friday, though analysts said this was well within expectations.

Sri Lankan shares end lower dragged by financials, industrials

Food prices rose 1.4% in June after remaining static in May, the Department of Census and Statistics said, adding that prices for non-food items rose 1.8% in June.

Ceylinco Holdings PLC and Senkadagala Finance PLC were the top gainers on the index, up 3.5% and 9.5%, respectively.

Trading volume on the index rose to 59.7 million shares from 40.9 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 2.23 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($7.3 million) from 1.01 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 47.7 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 2.20 billion rupees, the data showed.