Sri Lankan shares log seventh straight session of gains

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday and extended its gaining streak to seven sessions, boosted by utilities and energy stocks.

The CSE All-Share index .CSE settled 0.26% higher at 21,338.45.

Mercantile Shipping Company and Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) were the top percentage gainers on the index, gaining 25% each.

Ceylon Hospitals and Harischandra Mills were the top losers, down 8.3% each.

Trading volume on the index fell to 185.8 million shares from 224.8 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 5.57 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($18.4 million) from 6.56 billion rupees, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 270.8 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 5.42 billion rupees, the data showed.