Shares end higher as financials, industrials gain

Saturday, 29 May 2021 00:39 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Shares closed higher on Friday after a two-day market holiday, as the financial and industrial sectors gained.

The CSE All-Share Index closed 0.76% higher at 7,333.42.

Conglomerates John Keells Holdings Plc and LOLC Holdings were the top two boosts to the index, rising 2% and 2.1%, respectively.

Sri Lanka reported 2,584 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, with the death toll reaching 1,298 and about 1.58% of the country’s population fully vaccinated so far, as per Johns Hopkins data.

The Government has said that the lockdown will now continue without the relaxations announced on 31 May and 4 June.

Trading volumes increased to 147.7 million from 51.3 million in the previous session.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth Rs. 685.1 million, according to exchange data.

Equity market turnover was Rs. 2.89 billion, the data showed.