Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, aided by consumer staples and industrial stocks.

* The CSE All-Share index settled 0.82% higher at 11,532.69.

* Expolanka Holdings PLC and Ceylinco Insurance PLC were the top gainers on the index, up 1.8% and 9.5%, respectively.

* Trading volume on the index fell to 51.2 million shares from 62.4 million shares in the previous session.

* The equity market's turnover fell to 1.45 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($4.49 million) from 1.79 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 42.7 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 1.43 billion rupees, the data showed.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 323.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto; Editing by Maju Samuel)