Sri Lankan shares close at record high for third straight session

Sri Lankan shares closed at a record high for a third straight session on Friday, as strong gains in materials and industrials offset sharp losses in energy stocks.

The CSE All-Share index closed 0.34% higher at 9,915.22 points and rose more than 3% for the week, its best in three.

Lanka ORIX Leasing Company Plc and conglomerate Expolanka Holdings were the top boosts to the index, rising 3.5% and 1%, respectively. Commercial Leasing and Finance Plc was the top drag to the index, slumping 7.7%.

On Friday, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered frontline workers and tourism industry employees to be given a third booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine next month.

The governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka met with his counterpart from the Qatar Central Bank on Thursday and discussed collaborations to strengthen economic ties between the two countries as well as mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lankan shares close at record high as financials gain

The country's central bank said earlier in the day that it would issue 56.50 billion rupees worth of treasury bills via auction on Oct. 27.

The equity market's turnover was 4.46 billion rupees, according to stock exchange data.

Trading volume on the exchange dropped to 149.5 million shares, from 154.5 million shares in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth about 171.9 million rupees, as per exchange data.

The island-nation reported 555 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 533,860, while the COVID-19 death toll reached 13,562, according to data from the country's health bureau.

Sri Lanka has fully vaccinated a little over 60% of its 22 million people so far.