Sri Lankan shares rise for sixth day on consumer staples boost

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Tuesday for a sixth straight session, driven by gains in consumer staples and financial stocks.

The CSE All-Share Index ended 0.22% higher at 7,743.71.

Lender LOLC Development Finance rose for a sixth straight session, surging 25%, and was the top boost along with conglomerate Carson Cumberbatch Plc, which gained about 18%.

LOLC Development surged 121% last week and has advanced 56.3% so far this week.

Sri Lanka reported 241,820 total confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday, and 2,633 deaths, according to health ministry data.

The island nation has fully vaccinated only 3.80% of its population so far, Johns Hopkins data showed on Tuesday.

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

Trading volume on Tuesday rose to 67.7 million from 62.5 million in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 240.7 million rupees, exchange data showed.

Equity market turnover was 1.94 billion rupees, according to exchange data.