Sri Lankan shares settled higher on Thursday for a second consecutive session, supported by gains in industrial and financial stocks.
At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index rose 1.61% to 9,599.32.
Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange said on Thursday trading hours on would be extended by half an hour from Sept. 15, with pre-open session starting at 0930 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and market closing at 1230 p.m.
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.
Sri Lanka swore in 37 junior ministers, including two for the critical finance ministry, the president’s office said on Thursday, in a major expansion of the crisis-hit country’s government.
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.
Sri Lankan shares end higher as industrials gain
On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume rose to 292.4 million shares from 276.5 million shares in the previous session.
Conglomerate Expolanka Holdings Plc and LOLC Finance were the top boosts on the index, advancing 4.6% and 8.7%, respectively.
The equity market turnover was at 4.96 billion rupees ($13.82 million), compared with 6.08 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing nearly 839.8 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 4.52 billion rupees worth of shares, data showed.
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