Sri Lankan shares end higher as industrials gain

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in industrial and financial stocks.

At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index rose 1.25% to 9,447.27.

The 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.

The United States will support the restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt and extend financing assurances to the crisis-hit island nation, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter seen by Reuters.

Last week, Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of about $2.9 billion, subject to certain conditions.

The island nation’s official reserve assets were at $1.72 billion as of August, down from $1.82 billion in July, data from the central bank showed on Wednesday.

On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume rose to 276.5 million shares from 129.2 million shares in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares snap five sessions of gains as financials decline

LOLC Development Finance and manufacturing conglomerate Richard Pieris & Co were the top boosts to the index, advancing 14.1% and 18.3%, respectively.

The equity market turnover was at 6.08 billion rupees ($16.98 million), compared with 4.11 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing nearly 2.40 billion rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 5.98 billion rupees worth of shares, data showed.