Stocks gain for second week amid sell-offs

Stocks extended the winning streak for the second consecutive week to Thursday, as bargain hunters piled into small-cap stocks based on rumour in hopes of quick gain.
Still, overall market sentiment remained subdued as cautious investors opted for profit-booking sell-offs, with no sign of market momentum picking up amid political uncertainty.
On the other hand, low-performing stocks such as Olympic Accessories, Anlima Yarn Dyeing, Khan Brothers, Pacific Denims, Western Marine Shipyard, Evince Textiles, Union Capital, kept rising based on rumours.
These low-performing stock prices soared between 18.75 per cent and 47.29 per cent during the week, pushing the market higher.
Of the five trading days during this week, three sessions suffered losses while two others managed to close higher with a sudden spike in market turnover.
The DSEX, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), finally settled 14.29 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 6,266.85. The DSEX recovered 44 points in the past two weeks.
The blue-chip DS30 Index also advanced more than 8 points to 2,107 and the Shariah-based DSES index gained 4 points to 1,364.
Top positive index contributors include Khan Brothers, Olympic Accessories, Western Marine Shipyard, Pacific Denims and Orion as they jointly accounted for 13-point rise in the index.
According to EBL Securities, the investor optimism somewhat rebounded surrounding the recent approval of the second tranche of the IMF loan that enticed opportunistic investors to chase quick rallies in particular stocks, prompted by the allure of potential quick gains.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday approved the release of $689 million in the second tranche of the $4.7 billion loan package allocated for Bangladesh.
The Washington-based lender also advised Bangladesh to continue to focus on containing inflation and rebuilding external resilience.
The participation of investors increased as the total turnover of the week stood at Tk 29.81 billion, up from Tk 22.80 billion in the week before.
Accordingly, the average daily turnover stood at Tk 5.96 billion in the outgoing week, which was almost 30 per cent higher than the previous week's average of Tk 4.56 billion.
Majority of the traded shares saw price appreciation, as out of 379 issues traded, 130 closed higher, 31 ended lower and 218 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Most sectors closed higher, with the general insurance sector posting the highest return of 1.90 per cent gain, followed by textile, mutual fund, pharma and banking sectors.
Travel & leisure sector saw the highest erosion, losing 5.2 per cent, followed by jute, paper and ceramic.
The engineering sector kept its dominance in the weekly turnover chart, accounting for one-fifth of the week's total turnover, followed by pharma and textile sectors.
Small-cap stocks dominated the turnover list as Central Pharmaceuticals became the most-traded stocks, with shares worth Tk 1.90 billion changing hands, followed by Olympic Accessories, Khulna Printing & Packaging, Fu-Wang Ceramic and Bangladesh Thai Aluminum.
Olympic Accessories was the week's top gainer, soaring more than 47 per cent while Bangladesh Monospool Paper was the worst loser, shedding 11.26 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with its All Share Price Index (CASPI) gaining 46 points to settle at 18,583 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) rising 27 points to close at 11,112.
The port city's bourse traded 28.40 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover volume of Tk 830 million.

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