Sri Lankan shares finish nearly flat after previous session's fall

Sri Lankan shares closed nearly flat on Wednesday, following a decline in the previous session, with the CSE All Share index dropping 0.02% to 20,812.93. The nation's central bank maintained its key policy rate at 8.75% for the third consecutive meeting. The Colombo Consumer Price Index increased by 8% year-on-year in September, mirroring the 8% rise observed in the previous month, as reported by the Statistics Department.

Among the top gainers were SMB Finance PLC and Softlogic Capital PLC, which surged by 33.3% and 9.9%, respectively. Conversely, Hotel Sigiriya PLC and Lighthouse Hotel PLC were the biggest losers, plummeting by 10.2% and 7.6%, respectively. Trading volume decreased to 58.8 million shares, down from 69.6 million in the prior session, while the equity market's turnover reached 1.55 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.69 million), up from 1.01 billion rupees. Foreign investors were net sellers, while domestic investors were net buyers.

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