Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, aided by gains in IT and consumer discretionary stocks.

The CSE All Share index settled 0.88% higher at 13,164.33, rising for the third straight session.

SMB Finance PLC and Nation Lanka Finance were the top percentage gainers on the CSE All Share index, rising 50% each.

Trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 217.6 million shares from 97.7 million in the previous session.

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The equity market’s turnover rose to 5.10 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($17.54 million) from 3.64 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 375.4 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 4.97 billion rupees, the data showed.