Sri Lanka shares end lower as materials, information technology decline

Sri Lankan shares fell on Friday, dragged by materials and information technology stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.05% lower at 16,115.47.

The index is down 2.20% for the week, marking its third straight week of falls.

Sri Lanka and Japan signed agreements on Friday to restructure $2.5 billion worth of debt, completing two years of talks, that will assist the island nation in getting back on its feet after a severe financial crisis.

The agreements will allow the two countries to restart projects, including an expansion of Sri Lanka’s main airport, which were suspended after the island nation announced in April 2022 that it was defaulting on its foreign debt.

Paragon Ceylon Plc and York Arcade Holdings Plc were the top losers on the index, down 12.5% and 11%, respectively.

Consumer staples, IT stocks drag Sri Lankan shares lower

Trading volume on the index fell to 67.6 million shares from 83.8 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 2.18 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($7.38 million) from 2.36 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 518.4 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 2.07 billion rupees, the data showed.