Sri Lankan shares slipped on Friday from their highest close in a week hit in the previous session, led by blue-chip stocks with the day's turnover slumping to a 15-week low ahead of the traditional Sinhala-Tamil New Year later next week, brokers said. The turnover stood at 134.6 million rupees ($866,152), its lowest since December 22, 2017, and well below this year's daily average of around 1.2 billion rupees.
The Colombo stock index ended 0.3 percent down at 6,455.32, edging down from its highest close since March 29 hit on Thursday.
The central bank unexpectedly cut its key lending rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, as policy makers sought to revitalise an economy growing at its weakest pace in 16 years and facing heightened political uncertainty. The index fell 0.33 percent during the week and dropped 1.14 percent last month.
Foreign investors sold shares worth net 19.1 million rupees on Friday extending the year-to-date net foreign outflow to 890.7 million rupees worth of equities.