Sri Lanka shares end lower

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Monday, dragged by consumer staples and financial stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled down 1.05% at 10,663.10.

SMB Finance PLC and Colombo Investment Trust PLC were the top losers on the index, down 16.7% and 10.3%, respectively.

Trading volume on the index rose to 32.8 million shares from 22.7 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.24 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.13 million) from 449.5 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 65.3 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 1.22 billion rupees, the data showed.