Retailers trade at Dhaka Stock Exchange office. BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks extended gains for the third consecutive week that ended on Thursday, as investors preferred to buy shares amid post-Eid positive expectations.
Retail investors took fresh position on large-cap shares expecting high dividend while institutional investors continued to support the market, market operators said.
Week on week, the DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), rose 31.68 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 5,201.
The index gained even as shares of Grameenphone (GP), the largest market-cap company, fell sharply by 5.75 per cent or BDT 19.40 each to close at BDT 317.70 on Thursday due to price adjustment after record date.
The DSE Shariah Index also inched up by 0.03 point to close at BDT 1192. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 0.75 points to finish at 1,837.
Thursday was the last trading day before the nine-day Eid-ul-Azha holiday, including weekends and public holiday, that began on August 9.
The Bangladesh Bank's move to ease liquidity crisis of non-bank financial institutions through enhancing borrowing capacity of NBFIs from the call money market also made investors optimistic, they added.
They also said investors were also encouraged by the news that earnings per share (EPS) of most listed banks increased in the first half (H1) of 2019.
The week saw five trading days as usual. Of them, three sessions ended higher while two saw mild correction.
The total turnover on the prime bourse stood at BDT 23.69 billion, up from BDT 22.02 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at BDT 4.74 billion, rising 7.60 per cent over the previous week's average of BDT 4.40 billion.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also rose 0.11 per cent to BDT 3,866 billion on Thursday from BDT 3,861 billion in the previous week.
Block trade contributed 6.0 per cent to the total week's total turnover, with stocks like BIFC, Pragati Life Insurance, Al-Haj Textile, Brac Bank and United Power dominating the block trade board.
Most of the major sectors showed positive performances, with power posting the highest gain of 2.81 per cent, followed by banking (2.31 per cent), non-bank financial institutions (0.88 per cent), pharmaceuticals (0.87 per cent) and engineering (0.76 per cent).
On the other hand, the telecommunications sector witnessed the biggest loss of 5.26 per cent, followed by food (1.13 per cent).
Gainers outnumbered the losers, as out of 355 issues traded, 195 closed higher, 141 ended lower and 19 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
United Power dominated the week's turnover chart, with 2.75 million shares worth BDT 1.70 billion changing hands during the week.
Pragati Life Insurance was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 26.48 per cent while SEML IBBL Shariah Fund was the worst loser, plunging 25.86 per cent.
Coppertech Industries, a newly listed company, made its trading debut in the outgoing week. The newcomer's share price soared 348 per cent from its offering (IPO) price of BDT 10 each on its first trading day.
On the other hand, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) ended higher, with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -gaining 98 points to settle at 15,896 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - advancing 56 points to finish the week at 9,660.
BBN/SSR/AD