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March 1 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan stocks closed lower on Monday, breaking two consecutive sessions of gains, dragged lower by consumer and financial stocks.
* The benchmark stock index ended down 0.51% at 7,438.13. Based on Thursday’s closing levels, February marked the index’s worst month since March 2020, following a surge in January. The exchange was closed on Friday for a public holiday.
* Data released after market hours Thursday showed consumer prices in Sri Lanka rose 3.3% year-over-year in February, down from 3% in January.
* Cigarette maker Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc slipped 4.8% to the Dec. 11 low of Sri Lankan Rupee 1,000, while Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC fell 1.5%.
* The trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 57.9 million from 101 million in the previous session.
* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 654.6 million Sri Lankan rupees ($ 3.37 million), according to the exchange data.
* Stock market turnover amounted to 1.9 billion Sri Lankan rupees, data shown.
* The Sri Lankan rupee was listed at 194 against the US dollar at 11:22 a.m. GMT, according to Refinitiv data.
* For a report on global markets, click
* For a report on major currencies click on ($ 1 = 194.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
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