Sri Lankan shares fall as consumer staples, communication services weigh

According to Business Recorder, Sri Lankan equities ended lower on Tuesday as the CSE All-Share index shed 0.31 per cent to close at 21,279.65. Losses in the staples and communications segments pulled the benchmark down.

Food retailer and distributor Cargills (Ceylon) PLC and telecom operator Dialog Axiata PLC were the largest contributors to the index's point decline. Activity also cooled, as share volume contracted to 27.2 million from 67.1 million the session before. The value traded came to 796.9 million Sri Lankan rupees, or $2.43 million, compared with 16.85 billion rupees previously.

Exchange data also showed foreign investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 60.1 million Sri Lankan rupees, while local buyers added a net 740.9 million rupees. Domestic buyers were therefore the more active side on net, based on the same figures.