Sri Lankan shares end lower

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday, dragged down by losses in communication services and information technology stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled down 0.21 percent at 23,870.07 points.

Communication Services stocks dropped 2.1 percent, while IT stocks fell 2 percent.

Kerner Haus Global Solutions PLC and ACME Printing and Packaging PLC were the top percentage losers on the index, down 22.2 percent and 15 percent, respectively, on the day. Trading volume on the index fell to 275.6 million shares from 289.2 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover dropped to 4.91 billion Sri Lankan rupees (USD15.9 million) from 5.66 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 652 million rupees, and domestic investors were also net sellers, offloading shares worth 4.30 billion rupees, the data showed.