nov 24 reuters  sri lankan shares ended lower on wednesday weighed down by financial stocks ahead of the central banks monetary policy decision on thursday  the cse allshare index cse closed down 017 at 1091006 points  the central bank of sri lanka cbsl is expected to raise rates a second time since the onset of the pandemic to curtail inflationary pressures manage external challenges and attract foreign inflows economists and analysts said read more  financial heavy weights commercial leasing and finance plc colecm and lolc finance plc lolfcm were the top drags falling 419 and 725 respectively  meanwhile sri lanka rowed back on its goal to become the first country to fully adopt organic farming on wednesday by removing the ban on the use and importation of chemical fertilisers after months of mass protests by farmers and a surge in food price inflation read more  the equity markets turnover was 756 billion sri lankan rupees 3733 million according to stock exchange data  trading volume on the exchange rose to 3168 million shares from 2162 million shares in the previous session  foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market offloading shares worth about 1613 million rupees as per exchange data  the islandnation reported 740 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the total to 558860 data from the countrys health bureau showed  total death toll was at 14182 according to the data  about 6291 of the countrys population is fully vaccinated so far according to data from johns hopkins university reporting by nallur sethuraman in bengaluru editing by shailesh kuber