Sri Lankan shares ended higher for a second straight session on Thursday, helped by gains in industrial and financial stocks.

The benchmark stock index closed 1.42% higher at 7,476.34.

Conglomerate Expolanka holdings jumped 15.1% as the top boost on the index, while Browns Investments gained 7.4%.

Tess Agro added 40% to end the day as the top percentage gainer on the index.

Sri Lanka's consumer prices rose 3.3% year on year in February compared with a 3% rise in January, data from the statistics department showed.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share Index rose to 101 million from 75.7 million in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 854.7 million Sri Lankan rupees ($4.41 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

Equity market turnover was 3.01 billion Sri Lankan rupees, data showed.

The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 194 against the US dollar, as of 1109 GMT.