Sri Lankan shares settled higher on Tuesday after five straight sessions of fall, helped by gains in industrial and communication services stocks.

At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index was up 1.52% at 8,865.40.

Sri Lanka’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a bailout package have made solid progress, its president said on Tuesday, as he presented an interim budget aimed at boosting revenue and mending the country’s battered finances.

Sri Lankan officials hope the budget will be followed by a preliminary, staff-level agreement with the IMF for a loan package worth between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Meanwhile, Japan’s finance minister, Shunichi Suzuki, said on Tuesday the country will coordinate with other creditors to resolve Sri Lanka’s deepening financial crisis.

Sri Lankan shares fall for fifth session as industrials decline

On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume rose to 81.3 million shares from 51.3 million shares in the previous session.

Sri Lanka Telecom Plc and John Keells Holdings Plc were the top performers on the index, climbing 21% and 2.9%, respectively.

The equity market turnover rose to 1.81 billion rupees ($5.02 million) from 1.25 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing 260.4 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 1.79 billion rupees worth of shares, data showed.

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