Shares clock 10th straight week of gains

Saturday, 9 January 2021 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Shares closed higher on Friday and logged their best week in two months, as industrial and consumer stocks gained amid a global rally on hopes of economic recovery.

The CSE All Share Index ended up 0.31% at 7,119.53, its highest closing level since September 2015. It ended the week 5.1% higher, clocking its 10th straight week of gains.

Conglomerate Expolanka Holdings Plc was the top boost to the index on Friday, closing up 10.3%, while liquor maker Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka advanced 5.6%.

Trading volume on the index fell to 612.3 million from 1.04 billion in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading Rs. 115.7 million ($618,716.58) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

Equity market turnover was about Rs. 6.17 billion, exchange data showed.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in almost 50 countries, rose 0.4% and was set to close out its best week since late November, as investors looked beyond rising coronavirus cases and political unrest in the United States to focus on hopes for an economic recovery.