Consumer staples, IT lift Sri Lankan shares higher

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Monday, as gains in consumer staples and IT overpowered losses in real estate stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled up 0.49% at 19,923.02, rising for the third straight session.

SMB Finance PLC and Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC were the top percentage gainers on the CSE All-Share index, rising 33.3% and 25%, respectively.

Trading volume on the index fell to 105.9 million shares from 115.1 million in the previous session.

Sri Lanka shares post first weekly drop

The equity market’s turnover fell to 3.15 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10.48 million) from 3.26 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 160.8 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 3.1 billion rupees, the data showed.