Dhaka stocks move higher

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FE Report
Dhaka stocks edged higher Monday, led by financial institutions and mutual funds, after slight fall Sunday.
The market fell marginally in early trading but, after five minutes, was back into the gear as the benchmark index gained 35 points, pulled by banks and mutual funds.
The benchmark Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) General Index (DGEN) gained 17.41 points or 0.51 per cent to close at 3428.89, which was a new high.
The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) moved up 14.38 points or 0.50 per cent to close at 2871.75 while DSE-20 blue chips index rose 10.24 points or 0.44 per cent to close at 2313.01.
However, prices of the majority issues went down on price correction and because of cautious move taken by the investors on High Court's allowing the close-end mutual funds to issue bonus and rights shares by fund managers without curbing the securities regulator's absolute power.
The daily turnover dropped sharply as the investors remained on the sideline in putting money on some stocks, brokers said. It stood at Tk 9.31 billion, down nine per cent from that of the previous session.
Prices of most of the issues declined as out of 236 issues traded, 92 went into the positive territory, 143 moved down and one remained unchanged.
"Mutual funds sector was the market mover on the day, with an overall gain of almost four per cent," said BRAC-EPL Investment Ltd, an investment bank, in its market analysis.
All but one of the mutual funds traded in the green on news of the High Court's decision to allow closed-end mutual funds to issue bonus shares or rights issues.
The banks, except Dhaka Bank, nudged higher, reversing their losing streak over the weeks, with Dutch-Bangla Bank gaining highest of six per cent. Most of the non-banking financial institutions declined. However, the sector finished positive due to increase in heavyweights ICB and LankaBangla Finance.
Most of the pharmaceutical companies dropped. But Beximco Pharma and Renata advanced marginally.
The energy sector was also down with all of the companies trading negative except Jamuna Oil which rose 0.76 per cent.
The cement and insurance sectors were down while among the multinationals, Berger Paints, BATBC and BOC declined while Singer gained more than five per cent.
State-owned gas distribution company Titas Gas topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 612.84 million traded.
Other leading turnover leaders were AB Bank, Jamuna Oil, Summit Power, Beximco, Bextex, AIMS First Mutual Fund, Uttara Finance, Summit Alliance Port Ltd and DESCO.
Premier Leasing, a non-banking financial institution, was the largest gainer posting a rise of 9.36 per cent.
It was followed by Aftab Automobiles, 3rd ICB, 4the ICB, Rahim Textile, 8th ICB, Grameen One Mutual Fund, Dutch Bangla Bank, Grameen Scheme Two Mutual Fund and Uttara Bank.
Northern Insurance, Modern Dyeing, Meghna Pet, Monno Stafflers, Orion Infusion, BD Welding, Eastern Lubricants, Fine Foods and TBL were the major losers.