Investing.com – Sri Lanka stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Construction & Engineering, Investment Trust and Power & Energy sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Colombo, the CSE All-Share rose 1.06% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the CSE All-Share were Chilaw Finance PLC (CM:CHIL), which rose 22.35% or 3.80 points to trade at 20.80 at the close. Meanwhile, Selinsing PLC (CM:SELI) added 21.48% or 290.00 points to end at 1639.80 and Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka & Finance PLC (CM:MBSL) was up 17.27% or 1.90 points to 12.90 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Royal Palms Beach Hotels PLC (CM:RPBH), which fell 8.20% or 2.50 points to trade at 28.00 at the close. Office Equipment PLC (CM:OFEQ) declined 6.47% or 7.40 points to end at 106.90 and John Keells PLC (CM:JKL) was down 5.84% or 4.50 points to 72.50.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Colombo Stock Exchange by 166 to 33 and 25 ended unchanged.
Crude oil for May delivery was down 0.11% or 0.04 to $37.71 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in June unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to hit $39.84 a barrel, while the June Gold contract rose 1.11% or 13.60 to trade at $1237.40 a troy ounce.
GBP/LKR was down 0.07% to 203.170, while USD/LKR fell 0.37% to 143.800.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.02% at 94.47.