Sri Lanka shares end lower as consumer discretionary, energy stocks weigh

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Friday, dragged by losses in consumer discretionary and energy stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.05% at 10,813.03.

Sri Lanka’s authorities can negotiate any proposals private creditors make, such as issuing GDP-linked bonds, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Friday.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit China next week as the crisis-hit country makes progress on debt restructuring talks with its biggest lender, a source in his office told Reuters on Friday.

Lanka IOC PLC and Eden Hotel Lanka PLC were the top losers on the CSE, falling 3.5% and 5.2%, respectively.

Trading volume rose to 39 million shares from 29.1 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 823.4 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.55 million) from 999.4 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 102.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 775 million rupees, the data showed.