Sri Lankan shares ended lower for a third straight session on Thursday, weighed down by financial and industrial stocks, as the country suffers from its worst economic crisis in decades.

* The CSE All-Share index ended down 0.86% at 7,705.27. The index has declined 37% so far this year.

* Representatives from heavyweight financial and legal advisers Lazard and Clifford Chance arrived in Sri Lanka to kick off the restructuring of over $12 billion in debt, the island nation's prime minister said on Tuesday.

* An IMF delegation will visit Sri Lanka on June 20 for talks as the country looks for a loan to deal with its economic crisis.

* Sri Lanka, an island-nation of 22 million people, is suffering from its worst economic crisis since 1948.

* Trading volume fell to 41.7 million shares from 50.6 million shares in the previous session.

* The equity market turnover was 786.3 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.21 million), data showed.

* Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading 49 million Sri Lankan rupees worth of shares, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing 752.8 million Sri Lankan rupees worth of shares, according to exchange data.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 355.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)


Reuters