April 5 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares closed slightly higher
on Monday, helped by gains in material and industrial stocks.
* The CSE All-Share Index ended up 0.34% at 7,217.83.
The index last week posted a second straight weekly gain, rising
1.35%.
* Conglomerate Hayleys and activated carbon
manufacturer Haycarb were the top boosts to the index
on Monday, gaining 5.7% and 8.4%, respectively.
** Sri Lanka's central bank said on Sunday there was no plan
to delay or defer payments on account of Sri Lanka Development
Bonds and Foreign Currency Loans obtained by the government from
domestic banks. (https://bit.ly/3cRL0kq)
** Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has temporarily suspended its
COVID-19 vaccination programme due to a delay in securing
AstraZeneca shots from the Serum Institute of India, media
reports https://bit.ly/3dPpvAf said last week.
* Trading volume fell to 77.6 million from 86.3 million in
the previous session.
* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 638 million
Sri Lankan rupees ($3.21 million) worth of shares, according to
exchange data.
* Equity market turnover was 2.1 billion rupees, exchange
data showed.
* The Sri Lankan rupee was quoted at 199 against
the U.S. dollar as of 1210 GMT, according to Refinitiv data.
* For a report on global markets, click
* For a report on major currencies, click
(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru)