Stocks end week with marginal gain

Stocks posted a marginal gain for the second day on Thursday, the last trading day of the week, as some investors kept up their appetite for sector-specific issues.
The DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, settled the week at 5,259 points, advancing 16.89 points or 0.32 per cent over the previous day.
The market started on a positive note on the day and the core index soared about 28 points in the first hour of trading. But it lost some of the early gains during the remaining hours of trading.
Market operators said lucrative price levels coupled with positive support from the state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) helped the market to close higher for the second day.
"This upward shift in the index is mainly driven by significant positive changes in most of the large-cap sectors," commented LankaBangla Securities in its regular market analysis.
Two other indices-the DS30 index and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) -- also ended higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 5.37 points to finish at 1,859 and the DSE Shariah Index closed 2.94 points higher at 1,210.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, also crossed Tk 5.0 billion mark and stood at Tk 5.93 billion, up 22 per cent from the previous day's turnover of Tk 4.84 billion.
According to the International Leasing Securities, the turnover increased as the bargain hunters took position at lucrative price levels.
The stockbroker noted that the bargain hunters took position in sector-specific stocks, particularly in textile, pharma and engineering sectors while the risk-averse investors liquidated their holdings from power and financial institutions sectors.
The textile sector continued to dominate the turnover board, accounting for around 27 per cent of the day's total turnover. It was followed by pharmaceuticals (14 per cent) and engineering (12 per cent).
The pharmaceuticals sector posted the highest gain of 0.4 per cent, followed by engineering (0.29 per cent), telecommunications (0.05 per cent), and banking sector (0.02 per cent).
The power sector witnessed the biggest loss of 0.80 per cent, followed by financial institutions (0.31 per cent) and food (0.06 per cent).
The gainers took a modest lead over the losers, as out of 336 issues traded, 158 closed higher and 135 lower while 43 securities remained unchanged on the premier bourse.
A total of 143,337 trades were executed in the day's trading session on the DSE, with trading volume standing at 150.20 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 3,812 billion on the day, up from Tk 3,811 billion in the previous session.
The Shepherd Industries dominated the DSE turnover chart, with 6.31 million shares worth Tk 244 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were SK Trims Industries, Intech, BBS Cables and VFS Thread Dyeing.
The low-cap companies dominated the gainers' chart, with CVO Petrochemicals Refinery emerging as the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.99 per cent, while Eastern Cables was the biggest loser, shedding 5.91 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally higher, with its CSE All Share Price Index-CASPI-gaining 33 points to settle at 16,101 and the Selective Categories Index-CSCX-rising 17 points to finish at 9,753.
The gainers beat losers, as 126 issues closed higher, 92 ended lower and 23 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 7.83 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 254 million in turnover.

[email protected]