Losses in industrials weigh down Sri Lankan shares

Sri Lankan shares closed lower for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, hurt by losses in industrials and consumer staples stocks.

The CSE All-Share index was down 0.37% to close at 8,092.98.

Conglomerates Expolanka Holdings Plc and John Keells Holdings Plc were among the top drags to the index, falling 2.1% and 0.7%, respectively.

Sri Lankan shares close above 8,000 mark for first time in over 5 months

A total of 1,665 coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the island nation's total confirmed cases to 298,181, while deaths rose by 48 to reach a total of 4,147, according to health ministry data.

The country has fully vaccinated about 8.23% of its population so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

Sri Lanka received 1.6 million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.

Trading volume on the exchange fell to 146.6 million shares from 153.2 million shares in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares end higher as financials gain

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 142.3 million rupees ($716,876.57), exchange data showed.

The equity market's turnover was 2.31 billion rupees, according to exchange data.