Sri Lanka stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Footwear & Textile and Power & Energy sectors led shares higher according to Investing.com.

At the close in Colombo, the CSE All-Share rose 0.41%.

The best performers of the session on the CSE All-Share were Renuka City Hotel PLC (CM:RENU), which rose 25.00% or 74.50 points to trade at 372.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Ceylinco Insurance PLC (CM:CINS) added 16.71% or 208.80 points to end at 1458.00 and Paragon Ceylon PLC (CM:PARA) was up 15.38% or 8.00 points to 60.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Abans Finance PLC (CM:AFSL), which fell 11.42% or 4.10 points to trade at 31.80 at the close. Union Assurance PLC (CM:UAL) declined 11.37% or 16.30 points to end at 127.00 and Ceylon Printers PLC (CM:CPRT) was down 10.91% or 6.00 points to 49.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Colombo Stock Exchange by 99 to 46 and 46 ended unchanged.

Shares in Abans Finance PLC (CM:AFSL) fell to 52-week lows; losing 11.42% or 4.10 to 31.80. Shares in Union Assurance PLC (CM:UAL) fell to 52-week lows; losing 11.37% or 16.30 to 127.00. Shares in Ceylon Printers PLC (CM:CPRT) fell to 5-year lows; losing 10.91% or 6.00 to 49.00.

Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.67% or 0.36 to $54.26 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.70% or 0.40 to hit $57.23 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.15% or 1.75 to trade at $1140.55 a troy ounce.

GBP/LKR was down 0.15% to 183.125, while USD/LKR fell 0.11% to 149.430.

The US Dollar Index was up 0.18% at 103.19.