Sri Lankan shares post fourth monthly gain

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday on gains from real estate and communication services stocks, as the benchmark index logged its fourth consecutive monthly gain.

The CSE All-Share index settled up 0.95 percent at 20,997.36, rising for the third straight week and fourth straight month.

SMB Finance PLC and Muller & Phipps (Ceylon) PLC were the top percentage gainers on the CSE All-Share index, rising 33.3 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Sri Lanka’s Colombo consumer price index for August rose 1.2 percent year-on-year after falling 0.3 percent in July, the statistics department said.

Trading volume on the index rose to 388.9 million shares from 295.4 million in the previous session.