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

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Friday, aided by gains in consumer staples and communication services stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled up 0.72% at 11,106.54, extending gains for the 15th straight session, its longest winning streak since December 2020.

Sri Lanka Telecom and Sampath Bank were the top gainers on the index, rising 3.54% and 5.19% respectively.

Sri Lanka’s consumer price inflation slowed to 10.8% year-on-year in June from 22.1% in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food price rises, the statistics department said on Friday.

India and Sri Lanka said that they had agreed to improve economic ties by increasing cooperation in renewable energy and studying the feasibility of building an oil pipeline and a land bridge between the two countries.

India, Sri Lanka agree to boost ties through energy, power and port projects

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 117.4 million shares from 156.5 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 3.29 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10 million) from 4.17 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 145.4 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 3.17 billion rupees, the data showed.