Sri Lankan shares extend decline as broad losses weigh

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Thursday, extending their decline, as losses across sectors weighed on the market, with the benchmark falling in eight of the nine trading sessions so far this month.

The CSE All Share index settled down 0.89% at 21,270.02, bringing its decline since the start of June to about 4.7%.

Kandy Hotels Co and Odel PLC were the top percentage losers on the CSE All Share index, falling 6.7% and 6%, respectively.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 86.4 million shares from 69.2 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.66 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.97 million) from 1.67 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 183.7 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.56 billion rupees, the data showed.