Sri Lankan shares end higher as financials surge

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Monday for a fifth straight session, helped by gains in financial and consumer staple stocks.

The CSE All-Share Index closed up 0.15% at 7,726.73.

The index rose 1.4% last week, posting its fourth straight weekly gain mainly due to gains in financial stocks.

Sri Lanka's national consumer price index rose 1% month on month in May, data from the country's Statistics Department showed on Monday.

Lender LOLC Development Finance surged 25% and was the top boost. The stock surged 121% last week.

Sri Lanka reported 239,689 total confirmed coronavirus cases as of Monday, and 2,581 deaths, according to health ministry data.

The island nation has fully vaccinated only 3.61% of the country's population so far, Johns Hopkins data.

Last week, the country's central bank said earnings from the tourism sector remained subdued in April, but workers' remittances continued to grow compared to the same period last year.

Trading volume on Friday fell to 62.5 million from 73.9 million in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net purchasers in the equity market, buying shares worth 410.6 million rupees, exchange data showed.

Equity market turnover was 1.95 billion rupees, according to exchange data.