Materials and utilities lift Sri Lankan shares higher

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Monday, boosted by materials and utilities.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.41% higher at 15,916.69 points.

Ceylon Beverage Holdings and Diesel & Motor Engineering were the top gainers by index points, up 57 points and 50 points, respectively, on the day.

Trading volume on the index fell to 76.98 million shares from 77.26 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.98 billion Sri Lankan rupees from 5.90 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 280.88 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.96 billion rupees, the data showed.