Stocks edge up in choppy trading

Stocks managed to close in the green on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, supported by price appreciation in selective stocks while the majority of shares extended their correction mode.
The market opened on a positive note and the key index rose 30 points in the first half of the trading session. But the rest of the session eroded most of the early gains.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), finally went up by 7.34 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 6,496, after losing 75 points in the past three days.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 14.84 billion on the premier bourse, which was 0.67 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 14.94 billion.
Three most-traded firms --- Beximco (10.6 per cent), Orion Pharma (10.3 per cent) and IPDC Finance (5.1 per cent) --- jointly captured 25 per cent of the day's total turnover.
Market operators said the bargain hunters showed their buying interest on selective large-cap stocks after three days' corrections.
Price surge of some large-cap shares such as Beximco, IPDC Finance, United Power, LafargeHolcim and Shinepukur Ceramics helped to close the market index in the green territory, according to a stockbroker.
The market witnessed volatility throughout the session, while buyers had a tiny edge over sellers as opportunist investors took positions on selective issues at lucrative price levels, said EBL Securities.
However, cautious investors are being watchful since recent market corrections drove the majority of the issues down to the floor price level without potential buyers, said the stockbroker.
Most of the traded issues, however, remained unchanged due to the 'floor price' limitation while over 120 companies failed to find any buyers.
Of the 371 issues traded, 114 declined, 71 advanced and 186 others remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Two other indices edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gained 6.72 points to 2,323 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) rose 2.16 points to 1,415.
The miscellaneous sector dominated the turnover chart, grabbing 19 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals (16 per cent) and engineering (10 per cent).
Most of the major sectors suffered losses. The miscellaneous sector achieved the highest gain of 1.40 per cent, followed by non-bank financial institutions with 1.30 per cent.
On the other hand, power, pharma lost 0.30 per cent each and banking and telecom shed 0.10 per cent each. The pharma sector also lost 0.20 per cent.
Beximco became the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 1.57 billion changing hands, closely followed by Orion pharma (Tk 1.49 billion), Shinepukur Ceramic (Tk 727 million), Sonali Paper (Tk 639 million) and Eastern Housing (Tk 593 million).
Eastern Cables was the day's top gainer, soaring 9.95 per cent while Desh General Insurance Company was the worst loser, losing 5.34 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged higher with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) rising 16 points to settle at 19,180 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) gaining 10 points to close at 11,496.
Of the issues traded, 77 declined, 60 advanced and 109 issues remained unchanged.
The port-city bourse traded 36.32 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 1.01 billion.

[email protected]