Shares rise for fifth straight month

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Tuesday, helped by gains in information technology and consumer staples stocks, as the benchmark index logged its fifth consecutive monthly gain.

The CSE All-Share index settled up 0.5% to 21,778.60, rising for the 11th straight session.

Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC and Paragon Ceylon PLC were the top percentage gainers on the CSE All-Share index, rising 21% and 19.8%, respectively.

Sri Lanka’s Colombo consumer price index rose 1.5% year-on-year in September, following a 1.2% increase in August, the statistics department said.

Trading volume rose to 154.9 million shares from 131.7 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 6.3 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($20.83 million), compared with 4.25 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth 647 million rupees in the equity market, while domestic investors were net buyers of shares worth 6.02 billion rupees, data showed.