Sri Lanka shares end marginally higher as consumer staples, industrials rise

BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed marginally higher on Thursday, aided by gains in consumer staples and industrial stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled up a modest 0.09% at 11,444.38.

Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate fell to 0.9% year-on-year in March from 5.9% in February, the statistics department said on Thursday.

John Keells Holdings PLC and Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC were the top gainers on the CSE All Share, rising 1.17% and 2.39%, respectively.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 98.7 million shares from 88.9 million in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares end higher as financials, industrials rise

The equity market’s turnover rose to 2.96 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($9.9 million) from 1.89 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 267.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 2.78 billion rupees, the data showed.