Sri Lankan shares closed marginally higher on Thursday, aided by gains in consumer staples and industrial stocks.

* The CSE All Share index settled up a modest 0.09% at 11,444.38.

* Sri Lanka's key inflation rate fell to 0.9% year-on-year in March from 5.9% in February, the statistics department said on Thursday.

* John Keells Holdings PLC and Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC were the top gainers on the CSE All Share, rising 1.17% and 2.39%, respectively.

* Trading volume on the CSE All Share index rose to 98.7 million shares from 88.9 million in the previous session.

* The equity market's turnover rose to 2.96 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($9.9 million) from 1.89 billion rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

* Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 267.1 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 2.78 billion rupees, the data showed.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 300.3000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Varun Hebbalalu in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)