Sri Lankan shares close higher, boosted by IT, real estate stocks

Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, led by gains in IT and real estate stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled up 1.09% at 22,824.55 points.

HVA Foods PLC and Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC were the top percentage gainers on the CSE All-Share index, rising 35.6% and 25%, respectively.

Trading volume on the index rose to 330.5 million shares from 171.3 million in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 5.68 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($18.3 million) from 4.68 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 283.7 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 5.59 billion rupees, the data showed.