SMB Finance, Industrial Asphalts make gains

Sri Lankan shares closed higher, led by the real estate and materials sectors, and logged a 3.5% weekly advance.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.54% higher at 23,654.30 points on the day.

Real ‌Estate sub-index ‌rose 2.21%, ‌materials ⁠stocks ​gain 1.42%

SMB Finance PLC and Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) were the top percentage gainers on the index, up nearly 29% and 25%, respectively, on the day.

Trading volume on the index ‌rose to 269.3 ‍million shares from ‍223.7 million shares in ‍the previous session.

Equity market turnover fell to 8.55 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($27.7 million) from 12.33 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 131.8 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 8.43 billion rupees, the data showed.