Sri Lankan shares end at record high as industrial, financial stocks gain

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares hit another record high on Monday as industrial and financial stocks gained ahead of the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the country later this week.

* The benchmark stock index ended up 2.73% at 8,694.35, surpassing its record closing high on Friday after local regulatory approval for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

* Trading volume on the CSE All Share Index rose to 995.6 million from 590.4 million in the previous session.

* Conglomerates John Keells Holding Plc and LOLC were the top boosts to the index, rising 7.6% and 8.2%, respectively.

* Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 974.1 million Sri Lankan rupees ($4.9 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

* Equity market turnover was 14.99 billion rupees, exchange data showed.

($1 = 197.0000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath) ((saisachin.r@tr.com; +91 80 6182 2754; Twitter: @sachinr27))