Retailers trade at Dhaka Stock Exchange office. BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks kept gaining Wednesday, with turnover hitting 11-month high, as investors put fresh stakes on shares riding on central bank’s liquidity support measures.
Turnover stood at BDT 6.57 billion on the country’s premier bourse, climbing further by 30 per cent over previous day’s mark of BDT 5.05 billion.
It was the biggest single-day transaction in the last 11-month since March 13, last year, when the turnover totaled a record BDT 7.08 billion.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 9.31 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 4,480.
Some retail and institutional investors remained active on the market amid optimism, taking the turnover to nearly one-year high, according to market operators.
The Bangladesh Banks’ fund supportive measures coupled with the government’s move to offload shares of state-owned enterprises made investors optimistic, they added.
They also said the central bank’s moves would improve the liquidity flow. But government should address the issues like rampant manipulation, insider trading, lack of good governance and dearth of quality stocks for long-term stability in the market.
The market opened on flying note but began to lose the momentum during mid-session as a section of investors booked quick-profit due to price appreciation of many stocks.
The DSE Shariah Index saw a fractional gain of 0.56 point to close at 1,030. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 1.16 points to finish at 1,516.
Among the major sectors, non-bank financial institutions continued to gain, soaring 4.10 per cent, followed by textile with 1.40 per cent, engineering with 0.50 per cent, pharma 0.40 per cent and power 0.10 per cent.
On the other hand, telecom sector suffered most, losing 1.0 per cent followed by banking with 0.10 per cent.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 355 issues traded, 160 closed higher, 146 ended lower and 49 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 158,053 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 247.48 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE also rose to BDT 3,421 billion, from BDT 3,413 billion in the previous session.
Shepherd Industries topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 308 million changing hands, followed by LafargeHolcim, Orion Infusion, Khulna Power and Indo-Bangla Pharma.
ICB Employees Provident Mutual Fund-1 was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Shympur Sugar Mills was the worst loser, losing 7.78 per cent.
The port city’s bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also stayed in the positive zone with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-advancing 1.18 points to close at 13,633 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX -rising 0.56 point to finish at 8,267.
Here too, the gainers beat losers, as 139 issues closed higher, 92 ended lower and 36 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 9.35 million shares and mutual fund units worth BDT 193 million in turnover.
BBN/SSR/AD
