Sri Lankan shares end lower as financials, consumer staples drag; Oct inflation inches up

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Tuesday, led by losses in financials and consumer staples stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled 0.37% lower at 10,507.85, falling for the sixth straight session.

Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka and Expolanka Holdings were the top losers on the CSE All Share, falling 2.22% and 0.96%, respectively.

The island nation’s consumer price inflation rose to 1% year-on-year in October from 0.8% in September, the statistics department said after markets closed on Tuesday.

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

Sri Lankan shares end lower as financials, consumer staples drag

Prices for non-food items, however, climbed 6.3% in October after rising 5.9% year-on-year in September.

Trading volumes on the CSE All Share index rose to 28.6million shares from 25.7 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 912.5 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.79 million) from 1.10 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 79.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 864.1 million rupees, as per the data.