Stocks posted a modest rise on Monday, after a single-day break, despite most of the shares losing prices.
The market opened on a positive note and the key index rose more than 43 points within 90 minutes of trading. However, two-third of early gains were wiped out amid profit booking tendency among investors.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 14.57 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 7,251, after losing more than 13 points in the previous day.
Two other indices also edged higher with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, gaining 10.62 points to finish at 2,676 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) rose 4.18 points to close at 1,578.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, however, dropped below Tk 20 billion mark again and amounted to Tk 19.80 billion, which was 12.58 per cent lower than the previous day’s tally of Tk 22.57 billion.
However, most of the traded stocks prices fell as out of 376 issues traded, 202 ended lower, 141 higher and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
LafargeHolcim was the most traded stock with shares worth nearly Tk 1.40 billion changing hands, followed by Orion Pharma (Tk 888 million), GPH Ispat (Tk 603 million), Beximco (Tk 535 million), and Saif Powertec (Tk 499 million).
Eastern Insurance was the day’s top gainer, rising 9.98 per cent while Desh Garments was the worst lower, losing 7.81 per cent.
A total number of 274,457 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 464.85 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market cap of DSE stood at Tk 5,769 billion on Monday, up slightly from Tk 5,755 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 21 points to settle at 21,148 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX rising 14 points to close at 12,691.
Of the issues traded, 165 declined, 131 advanced and 25 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 20.25 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 793 million.
