Sri Lankan shares close lower

Shares in Sri Lanka ended lower on Friday, extending losses that left the market weaker for the week, according to Business Recorder. The CSE All Share index eased 0.33% to finish at 20,812.64, and its weekly decline came to 1.07%.

SMB Finance PLC and Eastern Merchants PLC posted the steepest percentage declines on the index, dropping 8.3% and 4.8% respectively. Trading activity thinned considerably, with shares changing hands totalling 29.9 million, compared with 65.4 million in the session before.

Equity market turnover contracted, reaching 873.4 million Sri Lankan rupees, or $2.64 million, down from 1.43 billion rupees the previous day, based on exchange data. On a net basis, overseas participants withdrew 183.7 million rupees from equities, whereas local participants added 829.9 million rupees, according to the same data.