Sri Lankan shares end higher aided by consumer discretionary, staples; Q1 GDP contracts

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, helped by consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled up 0.68% at 9,279.28, rising for a sixth straight session.

The country’s economy shrank 11.5% in the first three months of 2023 from the previous year, government data showed on Thursday.

The state-run Census and Statistics Department said the agriculture sector showed growth of 0.8%, while industries contracted 23.4%, and services dropped 5%.

Sri Lanka’s central bank projects that GDP will shrink by 2% this year, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates a contraction of 3%.

On the CSE All share index, Ceylinco Insurance Plc and Ceylon Beverage Holdings Plc were the top gainers, rising 7.2% and 12.2%, respectively.

Sri Lankan shares end higher aided by financials, industrials

Trading volume fell to 97.2 million shares from 123.7 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 2.85 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($9.34 million) from 2.71 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 172.4 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 2.81 billion rupees, the data showed.