Shares end higher as financials boost

REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares rose more than one percent for a second straight session yesterday, driven mostly by gains in financial stocks.

The CSE All-Share index closed 1.03 percent higher at 10,928.60 points.

Lanka ORIX Leasing Company Plc was the top boost, rising 18.1 percent to a record high.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) is expected to raise rates a second time since the onset of the pandemic on Thursday to curtail inflationary pressures, manage external challenges and attract foreign inflows, economists and analysts said.

The equity market’s turnover was Rs.6.6 billion (US$ 32.59 million) according to stock exchange data. 

Trading volume on the exchange fell to 216.2 million shares, from 224 million shares in the previous session.
Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth about Rs. 217.7 million, as per exchange data.

The island-nation reported 735 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 558,120, data from the country’s health bureau showed .

Total death toll was at 14,158, according to the data.

About 62.87 percent of the country’s population is fully vaccinated so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, at least six people have died and around ten are missing after a ferry they were travelling in capsized in eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, officials said.