Shares notch marginal gains
Sri Lankan shares closed marginally higher on Wednesday, with gains in financial stocks offsetting declines in communication services stocks.
The CSE All-Share index edged up by 0.02% to 23,655.68. On Tuesday, the index had settled 0.4% lower.
Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) Plc was the biggest gainer on the CSE All-Share index, rising 25%, while Millennium Housing Developers Plc was the biggest loser, with a 5.1% drop.
Trading volume rose to 170.9 million shares from 158.2 million in the previous session.
Equity market turnover fell to 3.35 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10.8 million), down from 3.55 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth 120.2 million rupees in the equity market, while domestic investors were net buyers of shares worth 3.29 billion rupees, data showed.
($1 = 309.3000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)