Sri Lankan shares end higher as communication services, consumer staples rise

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday, boosted by communication services and consumer staples stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled up 1.48% at 9,295.40, after posting three consecutive session of losses.

Sri Lanka’s National Consumer Price Index inflation eased to 22.1% year-on-year in May after a 33.6% rise in April, the statistics department said on Wednesday.

Food price rises eased to 15.8% in May from 27.1% in April, while non-food inflation was at 27.6%, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement.

On the CSE All Share index, Sri Lanka Telecom and Melstacorp were the top boosters, rising 10.88% and 4.9% respectively.

Sri Lankan shares close lower as financials, consumer staples fall

Trading volume fell to 50.4 million shares from 56.1 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.64 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($5.4 million) from 923.3 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing shares worth 54.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 1.61 billion rupees, the data showed.