Stocks edge up after rollercoaster ride

After a two-day correction, stocks in Bangladesh closed slightly higher Thursday as bargain hunters aimed at buying lucrative sector-specific stocks, taking advantage of the recent corrections in major issues.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), gained 12.55 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 6,564, while the DSES, the Shariah-based index, added 0.37 points or 0.02 per cent to close at 1,436.

However, the DS30, the blue-chip index, suffered 9.13 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 2,365.

Turnover, another crucial market indicator, stood at Tk 1,666 crore in the premier bourse, which was 7.9 per cent lower than the figure of Tk 1,808.2 crore in the previous session.

Investors were active on both sides of the trading fence, while buyers dominated the market at the end of the trading session, as bargain hunters aimed at buying lucrative sector-specific stocks, taking advantage of the recent corrections in major scrips, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

However, recent macroeconomic pressure, particularly the latest gloomy economic outlook estimated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as declining forex reserves, prompted cautious investors to remain watchful and partially liquidate their holdings, it commented.

On the sectoral front, pharma & chemical posted the highest turnover with a contribution of 23.3 per cent, followed by miscellaneous (20.8 per cent) and fuel & power (9.8 per cent).

Almost all the sectors displayed mixed returns on the Dhaka bourse. Of them, travel registered the highest return of 7.5 per cent, followed by IT (6.1 per cent) and services (4 per cent).

On the other hand, sectors like jute, cement and pharma, faced the most corrections.

Out of the 387 issues traded, 131 advanced, 78 declined, and 178 did not see any price movement.

The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also closed higher on the day with CSCX and CASPI indices advancing 15.1 points and 25.6 points respectively.