Sri Lankan shares ended higher on Monday, helped by gains in financials and consumer staples stocks.

The CSE All Share index rose 2.64% to 9,082.33.

The index had fallen for a second straight week in the week to Feb. 17.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering approving a loan for Sri Lanka, even without China’s assurance of debt-restructuring support, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Under a rarely used policy, the global lender may consider approving the island nation’s loan, as the only prerequisite hindering the go-ahead is China’s formal assurance, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC was the biggest gainer in the consumer staples sector, rising 10.9%

LOLC Finance PLC rose 3.2%, while Sri Lanka Telecom PLC rose 10.2%, becoming the biggest boost to the index, according to Refinitiv data.

Sri Lankan shares end higher as consumer staples gain

The trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 98.2 million shares from 93.3 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 2.28 billion Sri Lankan rupees (about $771,000) from 1.28 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading stocks worth about 346.9 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing 1.98 billion rupees worth of shares, the data showed.