Stocks ended marginally higher amid low turnover on Sunday, opening day of the week, as some investors showed their buying appetite on sector specific shares.
Market analysts said bargain hunters took position on stocks which suffered losses in recent price corrections, helping the market index to close higher.
The market started on high note and the key index rose about 44 points within first hour of trading session. But rest of the session eroded some early gains.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,775, gaining 25.53 points or 0.44 per cent over the previous day.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 5.65 points to finish at 2004 and the DSES (Shariah) index rose 3.32 points to settle at 1,314.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, fell sharply to Tk 7.25 billion, which was 22 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 9.32 billion.
A total number of 160,063 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 194.90 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE increased to Tk 4,165 billion, from Tk 4,156 billion in the previous day.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers, as out of 347 issues traded, 173 closed lower, 138 ended higher and 36 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company topped the day’s turnover with 3.67 million shares worth Tk 595 million changing hands, closely followed by Fortune Shoes, United Power, Premier Bank and Monno Ceramic.
S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels was the day’s best performer, posting a 9.93 per cent gain, while Meghna Condensed Milk was the worst loser, plunging by 9.95 per cent.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange also edged higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – advancing 51 points to settle at 17,654 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –gaining 34 points to finish at 10,684.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 122 issues ended lower, 113 closed higher and 29 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse traded 9.23 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 315 million in turnover.
