Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday, as gains in information technology and utilities helped boost the index.
* The CSE All-Share index CSELK:ASI rose 0.76% to 20,775.42.
* Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) CSELK:ASPH.N0000 and Muller & Phipps (Ceylon) CSELK:MULL.N0000 were the top percentage gainers on the index, up 25% and 18.8%, respectively.
* Sri Lanka resumed construction of a stalled highway project that links the hub of Colombo with Kandy city in the central highlands with a new $500 million Chinese loan on Wednesday. The loan is the first funding from its largest bilateral creditor since the island nation defaulted on its foreign debt three years ago.
* Trading volume on the index rose to 238.8 million shares from 203.2 million shares in the previous session.
* The equity market's turnover rose to 6.61 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($22 million) from 6.22 billion rupees, according to exchange data.
* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading stocks worth 684.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth 6.51 billion rupees, data showed.
* For a report on global markets, click
($1 = 301.9000 Sri Lankan rupees)