Sri Lanka shares end higher after central bank lowers interest rates

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Tuesday, after the central bank lowered interest rates.

The country’s central bank lowered interest rates by 50 basis points in an unexpected move on Tuesday and said there was space to ease policy further as it prioritises growth to steer the economy out of its worst financial crisis in decades.

The CSE All Share index settled up 0.90% at 11,335.53.

Every sector except for communication services rose on the day. Financial stocks rose the most, followed by industrials.

LOLC Finance PLC and LOLC Holdings PLC were the top gainers on the CSE All Share, rising 9.43% and 7.04%, respectively.

Industrials, consumer staples drag Sri Lanka shares; February inflation drops

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 80.7 million shares from 54.3 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 2.43 billion Sri Lankan rupees (about $8 million) from 1.29 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 2.4 billion rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 64.9 million rupees, the data showed.