Sri Lankan shares rise for fifth straight session as bank stocks lead gains

Sri Lankan shares extended their winning run to a fifth consecutive session on Monday, with the CSE All-Share index closing 1.37% higher at 21,531.37 points as financial stocks did the heavy lifting.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC and Hatton National Bank PLC were among the biggest boosts to the index, gaining 2.9% and 1.5% respectively, exchange data showed.

Activity picked up alongside the rally. Trading volume rose to 144.4 million shares from 112 million in the previous session, and market turnover climbed to 3.33 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10.02 million) from 2.89 billion rupees.

The flow of money was one-sided. Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 79.9 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 3.32 billion rupees, according to the exchange data.