Sri Lankan shares ended down on Friday, snapping two straight gaining sessions to record their second weekly fall, while the rupee was little changed as inward remittances offset dollar demand from banks. The index rose for the past two sessions after the central bank on Tuesday said that the Monetary Board ordered banks to reduce interest rates on all loans and advances by at least 200 basis points by October 15, 2019.

The benchmark stock index ended 0.02% down at 5,771.69, taking its weekly fall to 0.38%. So far this year, the index has dropped 4.6%. Equity market turnover was 417 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.29 million), well below this year's daily average of about 660.3 million rupees. Last year's daily average was 834 million.

Copyright Reuters, 2019