Sri Lanka shares end lower as consumer staples, industrial drag

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Tuesday, dragged down by a fall in consumer staples and industrial stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.34% at 11,348.25.

Sri Lanka has accepted offers to exchange about $10 billion worth of defaulted local debt for new bonds, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday, taking it a step towards meeting debt restructuring requirements ahead of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) review.

Sri Lanka has been battling its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades after its foreign exchange reserves depleted to record lows and forced the island to default on its debts in May 2022.

Sri Lankan shares end lower as financials, industrials drag

Trading volume on the index fell to 38.2 million shares from 40.6 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 919.8 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.86 million) from 1.15 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 56.9 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 907.5 million rupees, the data showed.