Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh’s stocks edged marginally higher for the second straight weeks that ended on Thursday as investors showed buying appetite on fundamental stocks.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual.
Of those, the market ended lower first two sessions while last three sessions closed higher.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 27.33 points or 0.60 percent to finish the week at 4,599.91 points.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gained 22.34 points or 1.26 percent to settle at 1,795.25.
The DSE Shariah Index advanced 12.69 points or 1.13 percent to end at 1,133.74.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also closed marginally higher with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – gained 50.21 points or 0.58 percent to close the week at 8,626.87.
The total turnover for the week stood at BDT 23.49 billion, which was 24.57 percent higher than the previous week’s total turnover of BDT 18.85 billion as the last week saw five trading sessions instead of previous week’s four.
The daily turnover for the week averaged BDT 4.70 billion, registering a decline of 0.34 percent over the previous week’s averaged BDT 4.71 billion.
IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said, “Though sentiment was subdued in the beginning of the week from liquidation pressure of the tax motivated holdings, market absorbed the supply and sparked enthusiasm based on notable positive developments”.
“The market edged higher last week as investors opted for fresh position taking in fundamentally sound stocks ahead of forthcoming corporate declarations,” said International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, in its weekly analysis.
The country rating up-gradation by banking giant HSBC, with optimistic macro-economic forecast and recent positive remark by the finance ministry also encouraged the investors to retrieve confidence, said the stockbroker.
The gainers took a marginal lead over the losers as out of 324 issues traded, 166 advanced, 132 declined and 26 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
United Airways was the week’s top turnover leader with shares worth above Tk 1.01 billion changing hands during the week followed by ACI, Olympic Accessories, Beximco and GP.
Monno Ceramic was the week’s best performer, posting a rise of 25.40 percent while Uttara Finance was the week’s worst loser, plunging by 13.66 percent.
BBN/BB/ANS