DSE indices rise, turnover tumbles

FE Report Dhaka stocks edged higher Thursday amid volatile trading throughout the session with turnover declined significantly, as institutional investors remained inactive in the market. The market opened with a flying note gaining more than 80 points within 10 minutes. After that it swung between positive and negative territories several times throughout the whole session and finally ended the day 31 points higher. The benchmark General Index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DGEN) surged 31.39 points or 0.63 per cent to close at 5,000.17. The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) went up by 26.79 points or 0.64 per cent to close at 4,168.71. The DSE-20 blue-chip index also advanced 19.81 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 3,761.40. Mr Yawer Sayeed, managing director and CEO of AIMS of Bangladesh Limited, an asset management company, said that today's (Thursday) market was normal and there was no sell pressure though the turnover value remained low. A group of vested quarter may still active in the market and they are trying to buy shares at lower prices by spreading rumours among the investors, but investors should be careful about their motives, Mr Sayeed said. "Investors should behave rationally to the market and should not pay heed to any rumours," said Mr Sayeed. The turnover value declined substantially and stood at Tk 2.16 billion, in value terms, down by 48.69 per cent compared to Tk 4.21 billion in the previous session, indicating that institutional investors are yet to be active in the market. On Wednesday, the market plummeted 94 points amid wide-spread rumour that sponsorsdirectors of listed companies were going to file writ against SEC's recent directive relating to sponsorsdirectors shares holding in their respective companies. Most of the issues traded on the day advanced in prices as out of 256 issues traded, 188 advanced, 54 declined and 14 remained unchanged. A total of 46.37 million shares changed hands on the day against 82.99 million in the previous session. The trade deals also declined to 76,977 against Wednesday's 139,044. Total market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 2,513.86 billion against Tk 2,501.34 billion.