Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh’s stocks edged higher for the five straight weeks that ended on Thursday as investors followed cautious stance following unveiling of the national budget.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday proposed a set of fiscal measures, including increasing the threshold of tax-free dividend income and cut corporate tax rate on listed companies for fiscal year 2015-16.
The week featured four trading sessions as the market remained closed on Wednesday, on the occasion of holy Shab-e-Barat – the night of fortune for Muslims.
Of those, the market closed higher three sessions while one session saw marginal correction.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 46.72 points or 1.03 percent to end at 4,591.43 points.
The two other indices also closed higher.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gained 33.74 points or 1.95 percent to close at 1,765.18 points.
The DSE Shariah Index rose 18.17 points or 1.65 percent to close at 1,117.60 points.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended slightly, with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – gained 24.15 points or 0.28 percent to close the week at 8,607.15 points.
The total turnover for the week stood at BDT 30.15 billion against Tk 37.36 billion the week before as last week saw four trading sessions instead of previous week’s five.
The daily turnover for the week averaged BDT 7.53 billion, registering an increase of 0.88 percent over the previous week’s averaged BDT 7.47 billion.
“Some investors re-balanced their portfolio to some large-cap stocks, leaving an overall positive indication in the market while some others were followed ‘wait and- see’ approach to look at what’s new in the upcoming budget announcement,” IDLC Investments, in its weekly market analysis.
Sheltech Brokerage said, “With the boosting package from the budget most of the stocks are likely to go for a boost in the coming days”.
Losers, however, took a lead over the gainers as out of 321 issues traded, 189 declined, 106 advanced and 26 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Summit Power was the week’s top turnover leader with shares worth BDT 1.68 billion changing hands during the week followed by KPCL, Beximco, United Power and GP.
Summit Power was also the week’s best performer, posting a rise of 28.65 percent while Savar Refractories was the week’s worst loser, plunging by 16.76 percent.
BBN/BB/ANS