Sri Lankan shares closed slightly lower on Thursday, due to sharp losses in the financial stocks.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.07% lower at 9,951.48. It is, however, set to post gains for the month ending on Friday for the third straight time.

Conglomerates LOLC Development Finance Plc and Expolanka Holdings Plc were the top drags on the index, falling 10.1% and 1.2%, respectively.

Trading volume on the CSE All-Share index rose to 214.2 million shares on Thursday from 181.1 million in the previous session.

Sri Lankan shares end higher as industrials, banks gain

The equity market turnover was 3.44 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($9.56 million) compared with 3.13 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing 139.6 million rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 3.34 billion rupees worth of stocks, data showed.