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Stocks edged higher on Thursday, snapping a two days losing streak, as some investors showed their appetite on selective large-cap shares.
The market opened on positive note and key index rose more than 32 points within first hour of trading, but rest of the session went half of the early gains.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 16.73 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 4968.
Market analysts said despite the market ended marginally higher, many investors remained worried about the recent volatility of the market and maintaining cautious approach.
An analyst said large-cap stocks like Grameenphone (GP), Bank Asia, United Power, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company contributed the market to close higher.
GP, which is the largest company by capital, gained 1.21 per cent, contributing more than nine points of the index’s rise alone on Thursday, he estimated.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.23 points to finish at 1,768 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 2.82 points to close at 1,148.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also rose to Tk 4.12 billion, which was nearly 30 per cent higher than the previous day’s Tk 3.18 billion.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 354 issues traded, 155 closed lower, 152 ended higher and 47 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 15,847 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 118.48 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE also rose to Tk 3,765 billion on Thursday, from Tk 3,750 billion in the previous session.
National Tubes topped the turnover chart with shares worth nearly Tk 153 million changing hands, followed by GP, National Polymer, Singer Bangladesh and Fortune Shoes.
Golden Harvest Agro Industries was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.72 per cent while Fortune Shoes was the day’s worst loser, plunging by 7.93 per cent.
The port city’s bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended marginally higher with its All Shares Price Index (CAPSI) -- CASPI—gaining 65 points to close at 15,083 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –advancing 39 points to finish at 9,161.
The gainers beat the losers as 110 issues closed higher, 104 ended lower and 38 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 5.49 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 158 million in turnover.