Sri Lankan shares closed at an over five-year high on Wednesday, recording gains for a seventh consecutive session, as a rally in consumer staples boosted the benchmark index.
* The CSE All Share Index ended up 0.83% at 7,036.76, its highest closing level since November 2015.
* The index gained 10.5% in 2020, its best performance since 2014.
* Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will open airports for commercial tourist flights from January 21, local media reported.
* Trading volume on the index rose to 760.1 million on Wednesday from 434.7 million in the previous session.
* Browns Investments Plc was the biggest boost to the index, closing 13.7% higher.
* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 346.6 million Sri Lankan rupees ($248,533.33) worth of shares, according to exchange data.
* The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 187.50 against the U.S. dollar as of 1148 GMT, according to Refinitiv data.
* Equity market turnover was about 7.16 billion rupees, exchange data showed.
($1 = 187.5000 Sri Lankan rupees)
(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 8061822737); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
