Sri Lanka stocks higher at close of trade; CSE All-Share up 0.93%

Sri Lanka stocks higher at close of trade; CSE All-Share up 0.93%

 Sri Lanka stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in theBeverages & Tobacco, Power & Energy and Construction & Engineering sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Colombo, the CSE All-Share added 0.93% to hit a new 1-month high.

The best performers of the session on the CSE All-Share were Paragon Ceylon PLC (CM:PARA), which rose 23.53% or 12.00 points to trade at 63.00 at the close. Meanwhile,Laxapana Batteries PLC (CM:LITE) added 18.45% or 1.90 points to end at 12.20 andIndustrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC (CM:ASPH) was up 17.33% or 52.00 points to 352.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Shalimar Estates (CM:SHAL), which fell 19.50% or 448.20 points to trade at 1850.00 at the close. Equity Two PLC (CM:ETWO) declined 14.89% or 10.50 points to end at 60.00 and ASCOT Holdings PLC (CM:ASCO) was down 7.93% or 3.40 points to 39.50.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Colombo Stock Exchange by 101 to 79 and 56 ended unchanged.

Shares in Laxapana Batteries PLC (CM:LITE) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 18.45% or 1.90 to 12.20.

Crude oil for September delivery was up 0.45% or 0.20 to $44.69 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October rose 0.32% or 0.15 to hit $47.12 a barrel, while the December Gold contract rose 0.18% or 2.45 to trade at $1345.65 a troy ounce.

GBP/LKR was down 0.42% to 187.785, while USD/LKR fell 0.09% to 145.415.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.08% at 95.60.