Sri Lankan shares settle lower, posts weekly drop

Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Friday, as losses in IT stocks countered gains in real estate, before data showed February Colombo consumer prices rose 1.6% year-on-year. The CSE All-Share index settled down 0.2% at 23,734.06, marking a 0.17% weekly decline. Sri Lanka’s Colombo Consumer Price Index rose 1.6% year-on-year in February, after a 2.3% rise in January, the Statistics Department said on Friday. Serendib Land and Office Equipment were the top percentage losers on the CSE All-Share index, falling 6.9% and 5.2%, respectively. Trading volume on the index rose to 369.3 million shares from 195.9 million in the previous session. The equity market’s turnover rose to 7.01 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($22.68 million) from 4.91 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data. Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 528.6 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 6.85 billion rupees, the data showed.