Shares close higher, but post weekly losses

Sri ‌Lankan shares closed higher on Friday, but recorded their fourth ​straight weekly decline.

The CSE All-Share index settled 1.85% higher at 20,639.73 points.

An International Monetary Fund staff mission will visit Sri Lanka ‌from March ‌26 to ​April ‌9 ⁠to ​discuss the ⁠combined fifth and sixth reviews of the country’s reform program under its extended fund facility.

Trading volume on the index ⁠rose to 215.2 million ‌shares from ‌176.5 million shares ​in the ‌previous session.

The equity ‌market’s turnover rose to 4.39 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($14.08 million) from 3.95 billion rupees ‌in the previous session, according to exchange data.

⁠Foreign ⁠investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 892.9 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 4.28 billion rupees, the data showed.