Sri Lankan shares end lower as consumer staples, communication services weigh

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Tuesday, dragged down by consumer staples and communication services stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.69% at 9,368.91, sliding after rising for four straight sessions.

Sri Lanka will enter into an agreement with the World Bank for $500 million in budgetary support after the cabinet approved it on Tuesday, the biggest funding tranche for the crisis-hit nation since an International Monetary Fund deal in March.

The government said that funding from the lender will come in two tranches.

Trading volumes fell to ~57 million shares from 90.4 million shares in the previous session.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka to restructure domestic debt

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.45 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.7 million) from 2.23 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing shares worth 204.6 million rupees, while domestic investors were offloaded shares worth 1.41 billion rupees, the data showed.