Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Thursday, aided by gains in communication services and financials stocks.

* The CSE All Share index settled up 0.2% at 10,626.56. * Sri Lanka Telecom and Ceylinco Insurance were the top gainers on the CSE All Share, rising 2.2% and 4%, respectively. * Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 26.7 million shares from 112.7 million in the previous session. * The equity market's turnover fell to 471.6 million Sri Lankan rupees ($1.5 million) from 1.06 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

* Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 57 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 417 million rupees, the data showed. * For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 323.8000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru;Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar)