Sri Lanka shares end higher as utilities, financials lead gains

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Friday, aided by utilities and financial stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.18% higher at 16,889.31.

The index fell 0.28% for the week.

Sri Lanka’s consumer prices fell 4% year-on-year in January after a 2% decline in December, official data showed on Friday, as the country’s economy recovers from its worst financial crisis in decades.

Prices in the food category declined 2.5% in January, compared with a 1% fall in December. In the non-food category, prices fell 5.2% this month, compared with a decline of 2.9% the previous month.

UB Finance Company and Lee Hedges Plc were the top gainers on the index, up 14.3% and 12.9%, respectively.

Sri Lanka shares fall as consumer staples, materials drag

Trading volume on the index fell to 70.5 million shares from 120.4 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 3.51 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($11.88 million) from 2.91 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 914 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 3.35 billion rupees, the data showed.