BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks edged higher for the two consecutive weeks that ended on Thursday as institutional investors continued to invest their funds.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 36.48 points or 0.71 per cent to settle the week at 5,169.
Institutional investors continued to support the market while small investors were busy with rebalancing portfolio based on earnings results as most of the companies disclosed their quarterly earnings, according to the market operators.
They also said most of the investors kept on taking fresh position in June-closing stocks to rebalance their portfolio in this current lucrative price level.
The central bank unveiled the growth supportive monetary policy for the fiscal year (FY) 2019-20 on Wednesday which also prompted some investors to the market, they explained.
The news that earnings per share (EPS) of most of the listed banks increased in the first half (H1) of January-June 2019 period, which also encouraged some investors, they added.
As per un-audited financial statements, the consolidated EPS of the 24 banks rose out of 30 for January-June 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year.
Two other indices also ended marginally higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.31 points to finish at 1,838 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 18.46 points to end at 1,192.
The total turnover on the prime bourse stood at BDT 22.01 billion, up from BDT 19.98 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at BDT 4.40 billion, rising 10.2 per cent over the previous week’s average of BDT 3.99 billion.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also rose 0.45 per cent to BDT 3,861 billion on Thursday from BDT 3,844 billion in the week before.
Block trade contributed 2.50 per cent to the total week’s total turnover where stocks like Square Pharma, Bank Asia, Olympic Industries, Fortune Shoes and United Insurance dominated the block trade board.
Major sectors showed mixed performances with telecom posted the highest gain of 4.01 per cent, followed by engineering with 3.55 per cent, pharmaceuticals 1.81 per cent and non-bank financial institutions 1.78 per cent.
On the other hand, food sector saw the highest loss of 3.52 per cent, followed by power with 1.12 per cent, and banking 0.23 per cent.
Losers outnumbers the gainers as out of 354 issues traded, 182 closed lower, 154 ended higher and 18 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Fortune Shoes dominated the week’s turnover chart, with 22.77 million shares worth Tk 944 million changing hands.
Monno Ceramic was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 51.06 per cent while Vangurd AML Rupali Bank Balanced Fund was the worst loser, plunging by 37.38 per cent.
On the other hand, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) edged higher, with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 85 points to settle at 15,798 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –advancing 53 points to finish the week at 9,604.
BBN/SSR/AD