Sri Lankan shares fall for third day as communication stocks weigh

Sri Lankan shares edged lower for a third straight session on Thursday, dragged down by losses in communication services stocks.

** The benchmark CSE All Share Index closed 0.12% lower at 5,088.10.

** John Keells Holdings Plc and Dialog Axiata were the biggest drags on the index, shedding 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively.

** Shares of C T Holdings and Ceylinco Insurance rose 9.1% and 5.6%, respectively, and were among the top boosts to the index.

** Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 343.2 million Sri Lankan rupees ($1.85 million) worth of shares, according to exchange data.

** Trading volume on the CSE All Share Index fell to 34.1 million shares, from 43.5 million in the previous session.

** Equity market turnover was 1.07 billion Sri Lankan rupees.

** The Sri Lankan rupee was quoted at 185.60 against the U.S. dollar by 1134 GMT, according to Refinitiv data.

($1 = 185.6000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((tanvi.mehta@thomsonreuters.com; +91 80 61822707; Reuters Messaging: tanvi.mehta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))