Sri Lanka shares fall as consumer discretionary, healthcare stocks drag

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Wednesday, as consumer discretionary and healthcare stocks led sectoral losses, amid an ongoing recovery of the island nation still grappling with deaths and destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

The CSE All Share index dropped 1.6% to 21,885.13.

Within the consumer discretionary sector, which retreated 2.1%, stocks tied to textiles, apparel and luxury goods fell 3.3% while specialty retail stocks shed 2.8%.

Health care shares dropped 2.1% and insurance stocks slid 1.8%.

Officials and volunteers have been coordinating efforts to provide cooked food, water, clothes, and other essentials to areas affected by the cyclone, that has killed 474 people so far.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 171.3 million shares from 100.3 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 3.78 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($12.3 million) from 4 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 385 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 3.69 billion rupees, the data showed.

Sri Lanka’s stock markets will be closed on December 4 for a local holiday.