Hartal fails to pull down Dhaka stocks

FE Report Dhaka stocks closed higher Monday despite countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal as investors opted for buying some particular sectors' shares heavily. With the Monday's gain, the Dhaka stocks advanced for the fourth consecutive sessions with major index DGEN gained more than 355 points. The market started the day with a strong note in the morning gaining more than 78 points within 25 minutes of the resumption of the trading and the momentum continued until the end of the trading session. At the end of the day, the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN), the yardstick of the market, ended at 6,535.87, rising 88.87 points or 1.38 per cent. The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) went up by 69.07 points or 1.29 per cent to 5,417.66. The DSE-20 blue chip index rose 24.63 points or 0.61 per cent to 4,017.94. Mr Ahmad Rashid Lali, managing director of Rashid Investment Services, said the overall market trend is very much positive. "The investors are coming to the market with fresh investment and simultaneously they are taking profit from the market which is a sign of stable market." Many investors regain confidence observing the current behaviour of the market as the market gained for few consecutive sessions, said a leading merchant banker. The small capital companies, prices of which companies shot up earlier, lost ground on the day which was also a good sign for the market, he added. However, the day's total turnover increased to Tk 10.60 billion in value terms, up by 3.20 per cent, from Tk 10.27 billion in the previous trading session. A total of 77.06 million shares changed hands on the day against 77.97 million in the previous session. The trade deals also decreased to 196,260 against 200,354 in the previous session. The market capitalisation slightly increased and stood at Tk 2,908.56 billion against Tk 2,878.34 billion Sunday. The gainers took lead over the losers as out of 257 issues traded on the day, 155 advanced, 94 declined and eight issues remained unchanged. Among the major sectors, NBFIs sector was the highest gainer and the sector advanced 4.39 per cent. Paper and printing and ceramics sectors were the highest gainer of the day with 8.96 per cent and 7.14 per cent gain respectively. Among other sectors, bank sector gained 0.19 per cent, while fuel and power 1.57 per cent, general insurance 0.43 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.17 per cent. Cement and life insurance stocks slumped 0.78 per cent and 0.39 per cent respectively on the day. Grameenphone, the most weighted share in the DSE, advanced Tk 0.60 per share and closed at Tk 170.10 on the day and the sector retraced 0.18 per cent. In the banking sector 29 issues traded, 18 issues gained, nine issues lost and two issues remained unchanged. In the NBFIs sector 20 issues traded, only one issue, Peoples Leasing, lost prices following its price adjustment after record date while 19 issues gained. In the textile sector 25 issues traded, 19 issues advanced and six declined in prices on the day. In the fuel and power sector 10 issues traded, of them eight issues advanced and two issues lost. In the pharmaceuticals sector out of 20 issues, nine issues gained and 11 issues lost on the day. Peoples Leasing topped the turnover list with share worth Tk 616.76 million changed hands. The other turnover leaders were Aftab Automobiles, Beximco Limited, Bextex Limited, BSRM Steels, Bay Leasing, Jamuna Oil, National Bank, Golden Sons and Confidence Cement. RAK Ceramics was the highest gainer on the day posting 9.46 per cent rise. It was followed by Hakkani Pulp and Paper, ACI, IPDC, ACI Formulation, Malek Spinning, Fidelity Assets & Securities Company Ltd, Premier Leasing, Navana CNG and BIFC. Peoples Leasing was the top loser on the day posting 37.95 per cent loss. The other top losers were Samata Leather Complex Ltd, Savar Refractories, Usmania Glass, Shyampur Sugar Mills Ltd, National Tubes, Sonargaon Textile, Bangas and Jute Spinners.