IT, financials lead Sri Lankan shares lower

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday, dragged by broad-based losses across sectors led by financial and IT stocks, ahead of the release of April consumer price data.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.38% at 22,549.53.

After the market closed, the Statistics Department said that the Colombo Consumer Price Index - a leading indicator for broader national prices - rose 5.4% year-on-year in April after a 2.2% rise in March, as energy costs climbed because of the Middle East war.

HDFC Bank of Sri Lanka and LAUGFS Gas PLC were the top percentage losers on the CSE All Share index, falling 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 155.8 million shares from 214.3 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 3.44 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10.78 million) from 4.19 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 345.7 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 3.17 billion rupees, the data showed.