Stocks continued to struggle to stay positive in choppy trade yesterday with all the indexes closing marginally higher.
After moving with a limited range of 15 points throughout the session, the benchmark index DSEX inched marginally up almost 8 points to 4,581. With this rise, the index added around 20 points in the last consecutive three sessions.
The Shariah index DSES was up 5 points to 1,118. The blue chip comprising index DS30 gained 10 points to 1,759.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX closed at 8,590 with a rally of 20 points.,Trading activities were sluggish despite improvement as the DSE turnover stood at Tk500 crore, sharply up about 40% over the previous session.
Lanka Bangla Securities said the market indicators reflected nervous opening of the day amid mixed performance in stocks.
“Earning declaration remained as major market trigger in near terms.”
Large cap sectors, like bank, non-banking financial institutions and telecommunications decreased by 0.9%, 0.8% and 1% respectively while power, food and allied and pharmaceuticals increased marginally.
Low cap cement sector witnessed a significant rise of 2.6%, led by Heidelberg Cement, soaring 3.2%. Engineering sector also came to spotlight as it rose 1.5%, driven by BSRM and BSRM Steel following their impressive corporate disclosures.
Both the scrips grabbed investor’s attention and became the turnover leaders, capturing 16.7% of the total traded value of the day.
Mutual funds that remained under pressure for a long time was the day’s biggest gainers with AIMS First Mutual Fund rising 8.8%, 4th ICB Mutual Fund 8.7% and Grameen Mutual Fund One 8.6%.
BSRM Steel was the most-traded stocks with shares worth Tk56.6 crore—the highest one-day trading turnover by a company in recent years. It was followed by Beximco Pharmaceuticals, United Power Generation and Distribution Company Limited, BSRM Steels and Al-haj Textile.
