Sri Lankan shares extended gains on Thursday, with financial and industrial stocks leading the pack, while global stocks paused ahead of key central bank meetings.

The CSE All-Share Index ended up 0.49% at 7,569.70. The bourse rose 0.4% in the past week and is up 12.2% for the year so far.

Still, the CSE index is off 15.8% from its lifetime high on January 29, 2021

Trading volume rose to 140.9 million from 84 million in the previous session.

The most heavily traded company by volume on the CSE index was SMB Leasing Plc which advanced 25%

Leasing firm Lanka ORIX Leasing Company added 1% and was the top boost on Thursday

Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 705.3 million Sri Lankan rupees ($3.57 million), according to exchange data.

The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 197.5 against the US dollar as of 11:18 GMT, according to Refinitiv data. The currency is down 6.76% so far this year.

Equity market turnover was 3.23 billion rupees, exchange data showed.