Snapping the downward streak, Dhaka stock closed slightly higher on Wednesday as a section of investors showed their buying binge in sector-specific securities with quick gaining potential though a mild volatility prevailed on the trading floor throughout the session.
The equity indices of the premier bourse failed to secure significant gains as cautious investors remained watchful and stayed on the sidelines in face of a bleak market momentum, stockbrokers said.
The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), edged up by 2.1 points to settle at 6,293 against 6,291 in the previous trading session.
Turnover, another crucial market indicator, rose by 5.6 per cent to Tk 413 crore against the tally of Tk 392 crore in the previous session.
Block trades accounted for Tk 44.3 crore or 10.7 per cent of the prime bourse’s daily turnover.
The food and allied sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 24.3 per cent of the total turnover of the Dhaka bourse, followed by miscellaneous (12.1 per cent) and engineering (7.0 per cent).
Fu Wang Food Ltd was the highest traded stock with Tk 50 crore worth of its shares changing hands, followed by Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Limited, and Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Limited.
Investors were active on both sides of the trading fence, causing the core index to observe a mere flat movement since risk-averse investors continued their cautious selling approach to secure short-term gains from the continuously volatile market, while some opportunistic investors chased selective scrips in anticipation of quick gains, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.
Most sectors displayed mixed returns, with the travel posting the highest gain of 1.8 per cent, followed by IT (0.9 per cent) and general insurance (0.6 per cent), while the jute faced the highest correction of 0.5 per cent, followed by services (0.4 per cent) and miscellaneous (0.2 per cent), according to EBL Securities.
As per the daily market review of Brac-epl Stock Brokerage, large-cap sectors posted mixed performance Wednesday, with the engineering booking the highest gain of 0.06 per cent, followed by food and allied (0.05 per cent), and NBFI (0.03 per cent), while the pharmaceutical experienced the highest loss of 0.15 per cent, followed by fuel and power (0.08 per cent), and bank (0.02 per cent).
Daffodil Computers Ltd rose 9.9 per cent to become the day’s top gainer, while Bangladesh Monospool Paper Manufacturing Co Limited fell 2.5 per cent becoming the worst sufferer.
Out of the issues traded, 73 advanced, 74 declined and 245 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on green terrain, with its two major indices – the selected indices (CSCX), and the all-share price index (CASPI) – gaining 5.9 points and 9.2 points respectively.
