Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Monday, weighed down by losses in financial stocks.

 

* The CSE All Share index settled down 0.84% at 10,721.84. The index shed 1.58% last week.

* Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in Beijing on Monday to attend the Belt and Road Forum, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.

* Sri Lanka has been a key receiver of loans under China's Belt and Road infrastructure drive, helping it to build highways, a port, an airport and a coal power plant.

** Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, has been leading the island nation's push to manage its heavy debt and keep funds flowing from a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund programme.

* On the CSE stock exchange, Senkadagala Finance Plc and Commercial Bank Of Ceylon Plc were the top losers, down 20.6% and 4.4%, respectively.

* Trading volume on the CSE All Share index fell to 31.1 million shares from 39 million shares in the previous session.

* The equity market's turnover rose to 1.15 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($3.55 million) from 823.4 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

* Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 691.4 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 487.5 million rupees, the data showed.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 323.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)