Broad-based losses drag Sri Lankan shares lower

Sri Lankan shares closed lower for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, dragged down by losses across sectors except communication services.

The CSE All-Share Index settled 1.22% lower at 17,071.44. The index has dropped over 3% in the past four sessions.

Mahaweli Reach Hotels and Tess Agro were the top percentage losers on the benchmark index, down 9.1% each.

Trading volume on the index rose to 181.2 million shares from 175.8 million shares in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares end lower as materials stocks weigh

The equity market’s turnover dropped to 3.9 billion Sri Lankan rupees (about $13 million) from 6.81 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 573 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 3.38 billion rupees, the data showed.