Sri Lankan shares close higher for 8th session as consumer staples surge

Sri Lankan shares closed at a more than five-year high on Thursday, recording gains for an eighth straight session, driven by a rally in consumer staples.

* The CSE All Share Index ended up 0.87% at 7,097.84, its highest closing level since October 2015.

* The index gained 10.5% in 2020, its best performance since 2014.

* Trading volume on the index rose to 1 billion on Thursday from 760.1 million in the previous session.

* Browns Investments Plc and Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC were top gainers on the index, closing 19.3% and 7.7% higher.

* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 374.7 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.00 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

* The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 187 against the U.S. dollar as of 1143 GMT, according to Refinitiv data.

* Equity market turnover was about 9.1 billion rupees, exchange data showed.

($1 = 187.0000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V) ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 8061822737); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))