Sri Lankan shares climb

Sri Lankan shares rose for a second straight session on Thursday to their highest close in more than three weeks as foreign buying boosted sentiment, brokers said. The Colombo stock index ended up 0.34 percent at 6,498.45, its highest close since January 10. Shares in Sri Lanka Telecom Plc closed 3.9 percent higher, while Carson Cumberbatch Plc rose 8.2 percent.
The market turnover was 902.7 million rupees ($5.86 million), less than last year's daily average of 915.3 million rupees. Foreign investors bought a net 243.7 million rupees worth of shares on Thursday, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to 4.3 billion rupees worth of equities.