Stocks upbeat, turnover still flat

Dhaka stocks closed higher on Sunday, the first trading session of the week, as recent market corrections created opportunities for bargain hunters to put fresh funds in some sector-specific issues trading at a lucrative price level.

The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), advanced 17.17 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 6,232 against 6,215 points in the previous trading session.

Among other indices, the DSES, the Shariah-based index, gained 9.89 points or 0.73 per cent to close at 1,363, and the DS30, the blue-chip index, surged 12.72 points or 0.58 per cent to finish at 2,202.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka bourse witnessed a slight increase in participation with the total turnover rising by 4.9 per cent to Tk 340 crore against the tally of Tk 324 crore in the previous session.

Recent indications regarding the resolution of the ongoing power and energy crisis, as well as the shortage of foreign currency, also slightly influenced the market momentum positively, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker in its daily market outlook.

However, investor participation was yet to rebound across the bourse, as the majority of scrips remained stuck at the floor price, limiting liquidation opportunities for investors.

On the sectoral front, the pharma & chemicals sector topped the turnover chart with a turnover of 24.2 per cent to the total turnover, followed by IT (19 per cent) and life insurance (10.7 per cent) sectors.

Most of the sectors displayed mixed returns at the premier bourse.

Of them, the IT sector posted the highest gain of 2.8 per cent, followed by the tannery (1.9 per cent) and the Pharma (0.9 per cent) yesterday.

On the other hand, the paper sector suffered the most with a loss of 2.7 per cent, followed by the life insurance (0.6 per cent), and the general insurance (0.3 per cent).

Out of the 390 issues traded, 49 stocks advanced, 40 issues declined, and 301 scrips did not see any price movement on the DSE trading floor.

The port city bourse, CSE, also closed higher with its two major indices – the selected indices (CSCX), and the all share price index (CASPI) – advancing by 37.8 points and 62.6 points respectively.