Sri Lankan shares on Monday closed lower for the first time this year, dragged by losses in the utilities sector.
The CSE All-Share index settled 0.19% lower at 23,608.51 points.
Utilities stocks fell 1.34%.
Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company and Colombo Dockyard were the top percentage losers on the index, down 7.4% and 7.18%, respectively, on the day.
Trading volume on the index fell to 156.9 million shares from 269.3 million shares in the previous session.
The equity market’s turnover dipped to 5.21 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($16.86 million) from 8.55 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 276.4 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 4.97 billion rupees, the data showed.
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