BENGALURU: Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Wednesday, snapping a six-session gaining streak, as communication services stocks weighed down.

The CSE All-Share index settled 0.03% lower at 12,390.86 points.

Sri Lanka will start talks on free trade agreement with Malaysia, as it seeks to improve trade ties to support its recovery from a financial crisis, the cabinet spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Lion Brewery and Serendib Land were the top drags on the benchmark index, falling 1.4% and 1.03%, respectively.

Trading volume on the CSE All-Share slumped to 65.80 million shares, down from 95.60 million shares in the previous session.

Consumer discretionary stocks fuel gains in Sri Lankan shares

The equity market’s turnover fell to 1.66 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($5.5 million) from 3.74 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 64.10 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.63 billion rupees, the data showed.