Stocks gain sharply led by pharmaceuticals

The stock market continued to witness volatile trading on Wednesday with the benchmark index gaining steeply driven by pharmaceutical stocks.

The market began positively but the last-minute profit-booking pressure wiped off some of early gains.

The benchmark DSEX index rose 76 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at 6,547, extending its winning streak for the second straight session.

It hit as high as 6,572 in the mid session and as low as 6,522 in the beginning.

Two other junior indexes also closed higher. The blue-chip index DS30 rose 47 points or 2 per cent to 2,353 while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, was up 23 points or 1.64 per cent to 1,442.

After two trading days, the transaction again exceeded Tk 2,000 crore. It stood at Tk 2,201 crore, which is Tk 886 crore more than the previous day. This is the second highest transaction this year. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals accounted for approximately 27 per cent of the total transactions.

“The equity indices of the Dhaka bourse experienced an upsurge riding on increased investors’ participation, particularly in the large capitalized stocks amid witnessing volatility throughout the trading session,” said the EBL Securities in its post-market commentary.

The majority of the buying appetite was concentrated on selective scrips while the others experienced corrections resulting from the profit-booking attempts of a section of investors, it said.

Moreover, positive earnings expectations from the June-closing companies have also instilled optimism among the investors across the bourse, it added.

On the sectoral front, Pharma (28.3 per cent) issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by Miscellaneous (13 per cent) and Engineering (10.5 per cent) stocks.

Almost all the sectors displayed mixed returns, out of which Jute (3.4 per cent), Pharma (2.7 per cent), and Cement (2.7 per cent) exhibited the highest returns on the bourse today, while Services (-2.5 per cent), Ceramic (-1.2 per cent) and Life Insurance (-0.6 per cent) exerted the most corrections.

Out of the 386 issues traded, 131 advanced, 155 declined, and 100 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) advanced by 124.9 and 207.7 points respectively.