Nation Lanka Finance, SMB Finance make gains

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by a rise across sectors, mainly IT and real estate.

The CSE All Share index settled up 0.61% at 16,815.6. *

Nation Lanka Finance PLC and SMB Finance PLC were the top percentage gainers on the CSE All Share index, rising 100% and 50%, respectively.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 173.8 million shares from 208 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover fell to 6.43 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($21.48 million) from 4.27 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 312.8 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 6.33 billion rupees, the data showed.