Sri Lankan shares end higher aided by financials, industrials

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Tuesday, helped by financial and industrial stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled up 0.61% at 9,069.64, rising for a fourth straight session.

Sri Lanka’s government has decided to extend a restriction on outward capital transactions by six months due to pressure on its limited foreign exchange reserves, cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena said on Tuesday.

The decision will be revisited after debt talks are finalised in September, added Gunawardena, who is also the transport minister of the island country.

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to discuss the crisis-stricken country’s debt with Paris Club members on the sidelines of a trip to France next week, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan shares end higher buoyed by financials, consumer staples

Since defaulting last May on its foreign debt for the first time in history, Sri Lanka has held rounds of talks with bilateral creditors such as China, India and Japan to resolve its worst financial crisis in decades.

On the CSE All share index, LOLC Finance Plc and Expolanka Holdings Plc were the top gainers, rising 10.9% and 4.4%, respectively.

Trading volume rose to 116.8 million shares from 82.4 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.59 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($5.19 million) from 1.16 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 199.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.57 billion rupees, the data showed.