Sri Lankan shares snap three straight weeks of gains

Sri Lankan shares ended little changed on Friday, as gains in industrial and financial stocks were offset by communication services and consumer discretionary companies, with the index posting a weekly loss after three straight weeks of gains.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.02% higher at 9,623.81. It fell 0.57% for the week.

The week saw major swings in both directions for the index. On Wednesday, it lost more than 1% ahead of the central bank's decision on interest rates, then gained more than 1% on Thursday after the bank kept rates steady.

Conglomerate Expolanka Holdings and financial company LOLC Development Finance were the top boosts to the index, gaining 1.2% and 2.1%, respectively.

Sri Lankan shares gain over 1% after central bank holds interest rates

Conglomerate John Keells Holdings was the top drag on the index, falling 1%.

The equity market's turnover was 3.48 billion rupees ($17.31 million), according to stock exchange data.

Trading volume on the exchange rose to 142.8 million shares from 105.4 million shares in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing shares worth 38.4 million rupees, as per exchange data.

As of Thursday, the island-nation has reported 529,755 total confirmed COVID-19 cases and 13,429 deaths, data from the country's health bureau showed.

About 57.85% of the country's population is fully vaccinated so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.