Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Wednesday, dragged by financial stocks.

* The CSE All-Share index settled 0.55% lower at 12,291.11.

* LOLC Finance PLC and Hatton National Bank Plc were the top losers on the index, down 4.4% and 2.5%, respectively.

* Trading volume on the index rose to 152.2 million shares from 109.7 million shares in the previous session.

* The equity market's turnover fell to 3.20 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10.6 million) from 3.33 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

* Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 941.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 3.03 billion rupees, the data showed.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 302.2000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto; Editing by Vijay Kishore)