Sri Lankan shares end lower as financials weigh

Sri Lankan shares ended lower on Tuesday, dragged down by losses in financial stocks.

The CSE All Share index fell 0.28% to 8,865.05. The index rose 4.3% in January, after falling 1.7% in the previous month.

Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate eased to 54.2% in January from 57.2% in December, the country’s statistics department said.

The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) reflected a 60.1% jump in food prices from a year earlier and a 51% climb in the non-food group, the Census and Statistics Department said in a statement.

LOLC Holdings and LOLC Finance were the biggest drags to the index, down 4.2% and 2.9%, respectively, according to Refinitiv data.

The trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 77.8 million from 96.4 million in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares end lower, pressured by industrials, financials

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.72 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.75 million), from 1.66 billion rupees on onday, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing stocks worth 173.5 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 1.64 billion rupees worth of shares, the data showed.