Stocks witnessed modest rally yesterday – the first day after the annual budget for the next fiscal year unveiled by Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday.
At the very beginning, optimistic investors placed sizeable bets on stocks, firing up the Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index (DSEX) that jumped nearly 90 points before mid-session. But the bounce failed to sustain as some late profit-booking sell-off wiped off around 70% of the early gains.
At the end of the day, the DSEX gained 26 points or 0.6% to 4,617, hitting highest at 4,678 and lowest 4,609 at the wee hour. The rally was led by mini and micro cap companies.
The Shariah index, DSES, edged almost 4 points or 0.4% higher to 1,121. The blue chip comprising index DS30 was up over 10 points or 0.6% to 1,775.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange prime index, CSCX, moved up 26 points to settle at 8,633.
Trading activities at the DSE remained relatively strong with turnover standing at Tk650 crore, up 30% over the previous session’s value.
Cement sector shined registering the largest gain of more than 2%, followed by pharmaceuticals 1.2%. The financial sectors – banks and non-banking financial institutions – advanced marginally.
Heavyweight telecommunication registered the highest losses. Power, food and allied, and life insurance also closed negative.
Lanka Bangla Securities said market started the day with severe bullish tone after a capital market-friendly national budget proposal by the finance minister, but later could not maintain the buying spree as investors went a bit cautious at the end of the day.
IDLC Investments said upbeat tone triggered by budgetary incentives assisted the market to remain vibrant at the beginning of the session. But, the momentum failed to sustain longer as investors preferred tracking return from the day’s volatility.
“Budgetary incentives pulled some investors from sideline to take part in trading.”
BRAC-EPL said the market remained up, following the news of 250 basis point cut on corporate tax rate for the listed companies proposed in the budget.
