Sri Lankan shares snapped a three-session losing streak on Friday, led by gains in financial and consumer staples stocks.

The benchmark CSE All Share Index closed 0.71pc higher at 5,124.26.

The index, down 16.4pc since the start of 2020, fell a modest 0.5pc in July.

Shares of Ceylon Tobacco Co Plc and telecom firm Dialog Axiata Plc climbed 1.9pc and 3.7pc, respectively, and were the top boosts on the index.

Commercial Leasing & Finance Plc and Property Development Plc were the biggest drags on the index, shedding about 3.1pc each.

Sri Lanka's headline inflation increased to 4.2pc year-over-year in July, from 3.9pc in June, driven by higher prices of items in the non-food category, the country's central bank said.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing 366.4 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share Index climbed to 82.1 million shares, from 34.1 million a day earlier.

Equity market turnover was 1.4 billion Sri Lankan rupees.

The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 185.55 against the dollar as of 1330 GMT, according to Refinitiv data.