Sri Lankan shares extended losses from the previous session to end more than 1% lower on Monday, weighed down by losses in industrial and financial stocks.
At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index was down 1.07% at 7,639.42. The index on Friday posted its second consecutive weekly gain, advancing 3.4%.
Conglomerate Expolanka Holdings Plc and Browns Investments Plc were the top losers on the index, falling 2.4% and 5.1%, respectively.
Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe told diplomats that non-violent protests against his government will be allowed to continue, including in the commercial capital Colombo, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
Sri Lankan shares inch lower; security forces raid protest camp
The country’s security forces raided and partially cleared a protest camp occupying government grounds in Colombo early on Friday, fuelling fears that Wickremesinghe had launched a crackdown a day after being sworn in.
Media footage showed soldiers in riot gear and armed with assault rifles tearing down the camp, set up in April by protesters enraged with the country’s economic collapse.
The island nation of 22 million is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades, unable to pay for essential imports such as fuel and medicine due to a severe shortage of foreign exchange.
On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume fell to 46.3 million shares from 52.8 million shares in the previous session.
The equity market turnover was 744.9 million rupees ($2.10 million), down from 866.6 billion rupees in the earlier session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing 122.8 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 624.8 million rupees worth of shares, the data showed.
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