Utilities and industrials drag Sri Lankan shares lower

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Tuesday, dragged by weakness in utilities and industrials.

The CSE All-Share index settled 1.63% lower at 15,394.16.

SMB Finance and Industrial Asphalts were the top percentage losers on the index, down 33.3% and 25%, respectively, on the day.

Trading volume on the index rose to 91.3 million shares from 54.7 million shares in the previous session.

Sri Lankan share index closes largely unchanged

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.77 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($59.7 million) from 1.27 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 104.7 million Sri Lankan rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.72 billion rupees, the data showed.