Sri Lankan shares end lower; bonds fall after central bank scraps buyback plan

Sri Lankan shares snapped a three-day winning streak to close lower on Monday, as losses in heavyweight industrial and financial stocks weighed, while bonds fell after the central bank scrapped a buyback plan.

The CSE All-Share index closed 0.31% lower at 9,649.26.

Conglomerate Expolanka Holdings Plc and Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc were the top drags on the index, falling 1% and 3.1%, respectively.

The equity market's turnover was 2.58 billion rupees ($12.90 million), according to stock exchange data.

Sri Lankan shares end at record high in third weekly gain as industrials rise

Trading volume on the exchange fell to 115.4 million shares from 177.7 million shares in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 149 million rupees, as per exchange data.

Sri Lanka's government bonds suffered their biggest drop in nearly seven weeks after the central bank scrapped a plan to buy back a chunk of the country's debt on the cheap after default fears pounded prices.

As of Sunday, the island-nation has reported 526,383 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 13,331 deaths from COVID-19, data from the country's health bureau showed.

About 56.69% of the country's population is fully vaccinated so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.