Sri Lankan shares extended gains to a fourth straight session on Friday to register their first weekly climb in three, with the sentiment helped by strength in financial stocks.
At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index rose 0.67% to 9,316.45. The index rose nearly 6% for the week.
Sri Lanka’s highest court has allowed former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa to travel overseas until Jan. 15, anti-corruption body Transparency International Sri Lanka said on Friday.
The tourism-dependent nation of 22 million is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, as it struggles with soaring inflation, economic contraction and a severe shortage of essential items caused by a record slump in foreign reserves.
Sri Lanka has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan of about $2.9 billion, the global lender said on Thursday.
The deal is subject to approval by the IMF management and its executive board, and is contingent on Sri Lankan authorities following through with previously agreed measures.
Sri Lankan shares post biggest monthly gain in more than 1-1/2 years
On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume fell to 144.6 million shares from 151.3 million shares in the previous session.
LOLC Finance and LOLC Development Finance were the top boosts to the index, surging 20% and 24.9%, respectively.
The equity market turnover was at 4.21 billion rupees ($11.73 million), compared with 4.09 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing about 807.2 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 3.93 billion rupees worth of shares, data showed.
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