Dhaka stocks advanced on Thursday, the last trading session of the week, after just a day in the red as a number of institutional investors kept the market afloat.
The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 3,967.72 points, adding 0.55 per cent, or 21.71 points. DS30, the blue-chip index of the bourse, gained 0.42 per cent, or 5.89 points, to close at 1,408.14 points.
The turnover of the bourse, however, declined to Tk 351.83 crore from the previous trading session’s Tk 384.33 crore.
The plummeting turnover shows that investors’ participation in the market has declined. Many investors opted for a wait-and-see strategy as the expected dialogue between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition has become uncertain, market operators said.
It’s the institutional investors who were active on the trading floor as they found the shares prices lucrative, they added.
If the political parties fail to reach a consensus over the next polls-time government, it would cause further violence and unrest across the country, which will affect the market negatively, the operators observed.
‘Turnover also adjusted downward from previous session with investors’ shaky sentiment, as they remained cautious and watchful over the dynamic turnaround situations,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
‘Keeping alignment with investors’ psychology throughout the session, the bourse ended flat with the addition of 21.71 points in DSEX,’ IDLC said.
‘Focusing on quarterly earnings and ongoing political dynamism, investors’ highlighted mixed scenario of profit booking and re-balancing,’ it said.
Of the 284 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 172 advanced, 88 decline and 24 remained unchanged.
Telecommunication and non-banking financial institution sector gained 3.29 and 2.73 per cent respectively.
BEXIMCO led the turnover chart on the day as its shares worth Tk 15.82 crore changed hands.
Generation Next Fashions, NBL, UCBL, Malek Spinning, Envoy Textile Mills, Argon Denims, Grameenphone, Apex Adelchi Footwear and Square Pharmaceuticals were the day’s other turnover leaders.
Republic Insurance gained the most on Thursday as the price of its shares increased by 9.79 per cent, while Delta Life lost the most, 95.06 per cent.
-With New Age input
