Sri Lanka shares end lower as industrials fall

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Wednesday, dragged by losses in industrials stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.79% at 11,631.97.

John Keells Holdings and Expolanka Holdings were the top losers on the index, falling 1.63% and 1.02%, respectively.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Wednesday said it has cut the statutory reserve ratio for commercial banks by 200 basis points to 2%, effective Aug. 16.

The decision was taken to inject liquidity into the banking system and further reduce the market liquidity deficit on a permanent basis, the bank said in a statement.

Sri Lanka shares end higher as industrials, financials rise

Trading volume on the CSE index fell to 72.9 million shares from 78.9 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.96 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($6.1 million) from 2.73 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 390.3 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 1.85 billion rupees, the data showed.