Industrials, financials drive Sri Lankan shares higher

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Monday, led by industrial and financial stocks. The CSE All-Share index settled 0.67 percent higher at 21,226.87 points. * Sri Lankan consumer prices rose 1.5 percent in August compared with the same month last year, jumping from an annual growth rate of 0.7 percent in July, the statistics department said on Monday.

Swadeshi Industrial Works and Diesel & Motor Engineering were the top gainers by index points, up 600 points and 104.5 points, respectively.

Trading volume on the index fell to 276.3 million shares from 377.1 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 8.08 billion Sri Lankan rupees (USD26.67) from 6.51 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.