Financials stocks drag Sri Lankan shares lower

Sri Lanka’s CSE All-Share index ended Friday’s session 0.6% lower at 20,142.33 points, with financial stocks weighing on the market, Business Recorder reported. Hatton National Bank PLC fell 1.3% and LOLC Holdings PLC declined 3.7%, making them among the session’s largest drags.

Trading volume contracted to 48.6 million shares from 117.4 million in the prior session, while turnover dropped to 958.6 million Sri Lankan rupees, or $2.88 million, from 2.27 billion rupees. Exchange data showed foreign investors sold a net 102 million rupees of shares, whereas domestic investors bought a net 928.8 million rupees. For Pakistani investors, the report provides a snapshot of trading and investor flows in a regional equity market.