Sri Lanka shares end lower as real estate, industrials drag

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday, dragged by real estate and industrial stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 1% lower at 12,982.10.

Sri Lanka’s consumer price inflation reached minus 0.7% year-on-year in October after easing to minus 0.2% in September, official data showed on Thursday, as the island nation continued its economic rebound.

The change was largely driven by a slowing in non-food price inflation that dipped to minus 2.3% in October from minus 0.7% in September, the Department of Census and Statistics said.

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Bukit Darah Plc and eChannelling Plc were the top losers on the index, down 7.8% each.

Trading volume on the index rose to 161.4 million shares from 137.6 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 7.04 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($24.20 million) from 2.73 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 341 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 6.91 billion rupees, the data showed.