COLOMBO: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, as financial and industrial stocks rose.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.99% higher at 12,310.78.

Sri Lanka has given Elon Musk’s Starlink, the satellite unit of SpaceX, preliminary approval to provide internet services there, the president’s office said on Thursday.

Sri Lanka fast-tracked the approval process after Musk met with President Ranil Wickremesinghe last month in Indonesia on the sidelines of the 10th World Water Forum.

Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc and LOLC Holdings Plc were the top gainers on the index, up 1.9% each.

Trading volume on the index rose to 49.2 million shares from 37.2 million shares in the previous session.

The equity market’s turnover rose to 1.56 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($5.15 million) from 1.25 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.