COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares rose for a fifth straight session on Wednesday to close at a fresh eight-week high, as the country looks to restart bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sri Lanka will restart bailout talks with the IMF in August, the country’s new president said on Wednesday, while calling on lawmakers to form an all-party government to resolve a crippling economic crisis.
The CSE All-Share index ended up 2.18% at 8,080.14, its best one-day percentage gain since July 11.
Heavyweights LOLC Holdings and Expolanka Holdings rose 9.7% and 14.3%, respectively.
The country of 22 million is unable to pay for essential imports such as fuel and medicine due to a severe shortage of foreign exchange.
Angered by persistent shortages of essentials, including fuel and medicines, and sky-rocketing inflation of over 60 percent year-on-year, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in early July, forcing former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to first flee the country and then quit office.
On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume rose to 123.5 million shares from 93.5 million shares in the previous session.
The equity market turnover was 2.68 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($7.51 million), up from 2.38 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading 68.1 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing 2.61 billion rupees worth of shares, the data showed.
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