Sri Lankan shares fall as financial, consumer stocks drag

Sept 3 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan shares ended lower on Thursday, as losses among financial and consumer staples stocks weighed on overall sentiment.

** The benchmark CSE All Share Index closed 0.17% lower at 5,350.85.

** Among the session’s top drags, Ceylinco Insurance Plc <CINS.CM shed 10.6%, while plantation manager Carson Cumberbatch Plc fell 7.6%.

** Telecom operator Dialog Axiata Plc rose 0.9% and was among the biggest boosts.

** Trading volume on the CSE All Share Index halved to 71.6 million from 144.9 million in the previous session.

** Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 68.5 million Sri Lankan rupees ($369,670.80) worth of shares.

** Equity market turnover was 1.12 billion Sri Lankan rupees, exchange data showed.

** The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 185.30 against the dollar, according to Refinitiv data.

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** For a report on major currencies, click ($1 = 185.3000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Derek Francis; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)