Sri Lankan shares close higher on gains in financials, communications stocks

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday, supported by gains in financials and communications stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 1.4% higher at 19,970.22 points.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon and Dialog Axiata were the biggest gainers, up 1.8% and 3.1%, respectively.

Trading volume on the index rose to 67.4 million shares, from 34.1 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 2.17 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($6.53 million), from 849.4 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 928.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 2.14 billion rupees, the data showed.