Sri Lanka shares end lower after central bank keeps rates steady

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday after the central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged.

Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) kept its key interest rates unchanged in a surprise move but announced caps on lending rates in some segments to ensure policy loosening done so far filters through to the economy. Analysts had expected a 100-basis-point reduction in rates.

The CSE All Share index settled down 1.08% at 11,262.92, dragged by losses in financials stocks.

Sri Lanka shares end higher ahead of central bank’s monetary policy decision

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 74.8 million shares from 102 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 2.43 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($7.5 million) from 2.97 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 130.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 2.37 billion rupees, the data showed.