Stocks edged up on Tuesday when the turnover dipped below Tk 1.0 billion-mark again as investors mostly followed cautious stance ahead of the national budget and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 6.26 points or 0.15 per cent to close at 3,962.
Market operators said the country’s stock market has become almost buyer less as panic gripped investors amid the fast-spreading virus which would hurt the earnings of listed companies.
“Investors are also cautiously monitoring the budget announcements before making any further investment decisions,” said the stockbroker.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to unveil the national budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2020-2021 on Thursday.
The depressed market outlook kept the investors worried, which resulted into poor market participation, he said.
He noted that the lack of institutional buyers coupled with current floor price limitation is preventing many investors from buying and selling shares as their desired price level.
Most of the shares were remained stuck at the trading floor and very few buyers came and picked some of the offered shares.
Of the issues traded, 238 remained unchanged while only 25 issues advanced and 16 declined on the DSE trading floor.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, slumped to Tk 677 million, which was 36 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 1.06 billion.
Two other indices also edged up. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 4.24 points to finish at 1,329 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 0.35 points to close at 917.
A total number of 10,546 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 25.04 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE also inched up to Tk 3,102 billion, from Tk 3,100 billion in the previous session.
Beximco Pharma topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 52 million changing hands, followed by Square Pharma, Indo-Bangla Pharma, ACI and Silva Pharma.
Pubali Bank was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 5.31 per cent while Prime Insurance was the worst loser, losing 6.48 per cent.
However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange ended slightly lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 4.88 points to close at 11,244 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –falling 3.13 points to finish at 6,812.
Of the issues traded, 18 gained, 11 declined and 63 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 7.27 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 732 million in turnover.
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