Sri Lankan shares ended lower on Wednesday, hit by losses in financial and information technology stocks.

The CSE All Share index fell 0.12% to 8,628.58.

Sri Lanka and India will sign a pact to link their power grids and start negotiations on an upgraded trade agreement within two months, a Sri Lankan diplomat said on Wednesday.

The island nation is seeking to enhance trade and investments as it moves to close a $2.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the country’s envoy to New Delhi told Reuters.

LOLC Finance and Browns Investments were the biggest drags to the index, down 5.1% and 1.7%, respectively, according to Refinitiv data.

The trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 82.2 million shares from 85.6 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.88 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($5.21 million) from 2.25 billion rupees on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing stocks worth about 162 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 1.86 billion rupees worth of shares, the data showed.