Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Friday, logging their third straight weekly gain, boosted by a surge in industrials and financial stocks.
The CSE All-Share index settled 0.3% higher at 10,102.70 points.
Sri Lanka’s economy contracted 8.4% in April-June, compared with the same period a year earlier, data from the statistics department showed on Thursday after the market closed.
Purchasing Managers Indices for both manufacturing and services activities increased in August from a month ago.
The CSE index has gained over 11% so far this month after Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of about $2.9 billion.
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.
Sri Lankan shares snap four-day win streak as financials weigh
Microfinance company LOLC Development Finance Plc and Royal Ceramics were top boosts, gaining 10.5% and 8%, respectively.
Trading volume on the CSE All-Share index fell to 135.9 million shares from 189 million shares in the previous session.
The equity market turnover was 5.34 billion rupees ($14.71 million), according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing 1.81 billion rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 5.28 billion rupees worth of stocks, data showed.
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