Sri Lanka shares rise on communication services, financials boost; inflation eases

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Monday, aided by communication services and financials stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.11% higher at 10,862.11, after ending the last week up 0.35%.

Sri Lanka Telecom and Ceylon Tobacco were the top gainers on the index, up 8.6% and 3.1%, respectively.

Sri Lanka’s consumer price inflation rate eased to 0.8% year-on-year in September from 2.1% in August, the statistics department said after markets closed on Monday.

Food prices fell 5.2% in September after declining 5.4% in August, from a year earlier, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement.

Prices for non-food items, however, climbed 5.9% in September after rising 9% year-on-year in August.

Trading volume on the index rose to 31.2 million shares from 36.7 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.07 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($3.3 million) from 910 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 100.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.02 billion rupees, the data showed.