BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday, led by losses in industrials and communication services.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.49% at 10,783.81.

Sri Lanka’s growth is expected to turn positive in the third quarter of 2023 for the first time in six successive quarters, Sri Lanka State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe said on Thursday.

Expolanka Holdings Plc and Sri Lanka Telecom Plc were the top losers on the CSE All Share, falling 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

Sri Lankan shares end lower, snaps 5-day gaining streak

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 39.4 million shares from 47.2million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 674.5 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.07 million) from 828.6 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 34.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 650.4 million rupees, the data showed.