Sri Lankan shares ended nearly unchanged on Wednesday, as losses in consumer staple stocks overshadowed gains in financials.
* The CSE All-Share Index ended 0.02% lower at 7,742.14.
* Conglomerate Carson Cumberbatch Plc was one of the major drags, falling 14.2%, while lender LOLC Development Finance rose for a seventh straight session, surging 25%.
** LOLC Development surged 121% last week and has advanced 75% so far this week.
* Sri Lanka reported 243,913 total confirmed coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, and 2,704 deaths, according to the health ministry.
* The island nation has fully vaccinated only 3.86% of its population so far, Johns Hopkins data showed on Wednesday.
** Pfizer's 78,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in Sri Lanka in the first three weeks of July, State Minister Channa Jayasumana said.
* Trading volume Pfizer's to 62.2 million from 67.7 million in the previous session.
* Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 79.7 million rupees, exchange data showed.
* Equity market's turnover was 1.55 billion rupees, according to exchange data.
(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 8061822737); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
