Stocks edge up amid dull trading

Stocks edged higher Tuesday, after struggling to stay positive throughout the trading session, as some investors went on late hour buying spree, particularly on small-cap issues.
Analysts said although the market ended marginally higher, the investors were mostly cautious amid lack of clear direction of the market, while some searching for opportunistic investment prospects.  
The market moved between red and green zones during the whole trading session, but finally it closed in green territory with a lower volume of trade.
By the end of the trading session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 4,453.89, advancing 10.26 points or 0.23 per cent.
The two other indices also ended in the green zone. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips rose 6.28 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 1,709.58. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 2.65 points or 0.25 per cent to finish at 1,080.40.
Lackluster trading activities continued as the DSE turnover was hovering around Tk 3.0 billion over the last four trading sessions. The total turnover came down to Tk 3.06 billion Tuesday, which was 1.60 per cent lower than the previous day's Tk 3.11 billion.
Engineering sector continued to dominate the turnover chart for the third consecutive session, grabbing 18 per cent of the day's total trade value followed by fuel and power 13 per cent and textiles 12 per cent.
IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said, "The market closed positive for the second consecutive session with the help of small-cap stocks, which gained 1.20 per cent".
"Without any major catalysts to drive the action, investors were uncertain whether the upturn in market in recent time can continue," said LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, in its regular market analysis.
The stockbroker noted that major sectors posted gains, despite a lackluster performance for much of the session.
Quoting London-based BMI Research report, a company of Fitch Group, the stockbroker said that lackluster investment outlook in Bangladesh will exert downside pressure on the taka against dollar.
However, the report also said that Bangladesh Bank (BB) will maintain a tight grip on the foreign exchange market to ensure broad stability on the unit, and the threat of a one-off devaluation is relatively low as Bangladesh's external accounts are in a much stronger shape than in 2011.
"Notable price correction during the recent bearish streak created an impetus for undervaluation, upon which investors started to take fresh positions," said International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, in an analysis.
Meanwhile, the activity from the market participants remained shaky as no clear indication of the market outlook was visible to them, said the stockbroker.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed higher with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, advancing 23.44 points or 0.28 per cent to finish at 8,329.28 points.
Gainers beat losers as 138 issues closed higher, 70 closed lower and 33 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 7.63 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk above 222 million in turnover.
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