March 23 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday after gaining for three straight sessions, dragged down by financial companies amid worries over surging inflation.

* The CSE All-Share index fell 0.31% to 10,457.81 points.

* Sri Lanka posted soldiers at hundreds of state-run gas stations on Tuesday to help distribute fuel after a sudden rise in prices of key commodities and accompanying shortages forced tens of thousands of people to queue for hours.

* Sri Lanka's cabinet on Monday made the decision to appoint a technical adviser to provide technical assistance on debt restructuring ahead of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the country's economic crisis.

* The Indian Ocean nation's foreign exchange reserves have fallen 70% in the past two years to about $2.31 billion, leaving it struggling to pay for essential imports, including food and fuel.

* Financial services provider Senkadagala Finance Plc and conglomerate Lanka Orix Leasing Company Plc were the biggest drags, falling 16.9% and 1.2%, respectively.

* Foreign investors were net buyers in the equity market, purchasing shares worth nearly 26.7 million Sri Lankan rupees ($95,357.14), while domestic investors were net sellers, offloading 1.36 billion rupees worth of shares, exchange data showed.

* Equity market turnover was 1.37 billion rupees.

* Trading volume rose to 88.35 million shares from 55.1 million shares in the previous session.

* For a report on global markets, click ($1 = 280.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)