Retailers trade at Dhaka Stock Exchange office. BBN file photo

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh’s stocks ended higher for the second straight session on Tuesday as investors showed their buying appetite on banking sector shares.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 28.68 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 4,722. However, two other indices inched down.

Opportunist investors were active on financial stocks, particularly banking and non-bank financial institutions, as their shares became lucrative following the recent sharp correction, according to the market operators.

The heavyweight sector gained 1.24 per cent with 23 banks, out of 30, closed higher, with Mutual Trust Bank, Trust Bank, City Bank, Rupali Bank, IFIC Bank, National Bank and Dhaka Bank led the market gain.

The financial institution sector also gained 3.49 per cent with rise of prices of 21 NBFIs, out of 23.

However, Grameenphone (GP), which is the largest company by capital, continued to fall, losing 0.52 per cent further to close at BDT 306.20 on Tuesday.

The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 1.05 points to finish at 1,634 and the DSE Shariah Index fell 1.40 points to close at 1,075.

The investors’ activity was mostly centered on textile sector, grabbing 14.9 per cent, followed by banking with 14.8 per cent and pharma 13.6 per cent.

The financial institutions booked the highest gain of 3.49 per cent, followed by banking with 1.24 per cent and engineering 0.11 per cent. Textile sector also gained 3.60 per cent.

Food & allied witnessed the highest loss of 0.80 per cent, followed by telecom with 0.58 per cent, pharmaceuticals 0.31 per cent and power 0.08 per cent.

Gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 350 issues traded, 184 closed higher, 133 ended lower and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

A total number of 153,010 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 227.47 million shares and mutual fund units.

The market-cap of the DSE rose to BDT 3,551 billion on Tuesday, from BDT 3,542 billion in the previous session.

National Tubes topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 134 million changing hands, followed by City Bank, Kattali Textile, LankaBangla Finance, and Beacon Pharma.

Saiham Textile was the best performer for the second straight session, posting a gain of 9.94 per cent while Emerald Oil Industries was the worst loser, losing 8.63 per cent.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, rose to BDT 5.60 billion, which was 26 per cent higher than the previous day’s turnover of BDT 4.44 billion.

On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange ended higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) –advancing 58 points to close at 14,314 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –gaining 32 points to finish at 8,696.

The gainers beat losers as 149 issues closed higher, 87 ended lower and 31 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city bourse traded 10.90 million shares and mutual fund units worth BDT 209 million in turnover.

BBN/SSR/AD