Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday for a second straight session, led by gains in industrials and financials stocks.
The CSE All-Share index settled 1.6% higher at 10,072.38 points.
Sri Lanka’s economy contracted 8.4% in the April to June quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, data from the statistics department showed on Thursday after the market closed.
The island nation 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.
India does not plan to provide fresh financial support to Sri Lanka on top of the nearly $4 billion it has extended this year, two sources told Reuters, as the island’s battered economy starts to stabilise after a preliminary loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sri Lanka and the IMF reached a preliminary agreement in early September for a loan of about $2.9 billion, which is contingent on the country receiving financing assurances from official creditors and negotiations with private creditors.
Sri Lanka’s economy shrinks 8.4% amid fertiliser, fuel shortages
Trading volume on the CSE All-Share index rose to nearly 189 million shares from 158.9 million shares in the previous session.
The equity market turnover was 5.33 billion rupees ($14.72 million), compared with 4.10 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing 1.07 billion rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 5.05 billion rupees worth of stocks, data showed.
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