Sri Lankan shares ended lower for a second straight session on Monday, dragged by the losses in industrials and communication services stocks.

* The CSE All Share index settled down 0.24% at 8,906.20.

* Conglomerate Expolanka Holdings PLC and ICT solutions provider Sri Lanka Telecom PLC were the top losers on the CSE All Share, falling 1.16% and 2.15%, respectively.

* The Sri Lankan economy is expected to contract by 3% in 2023 given the weak external environment, Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the Asia Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund, said on Monday.

* Trading volume on the index fell to 42.9 million shares from 94.7 million in the previous session.

* The equity market's turnover fell to 676.6 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.13 million) from 785.8 million rupees in the previous session, according to exchange data.

* Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth 28.2 million rupees, while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading shares worth 675.9 million rupees, the data showed.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 318.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)