Stocks inch up for fourth day

Stocks edged marginally higher for the fourth consecutive session on Tuesday amid volatile trading throughout the session with turnover remained sluggish as investors moved cautiously.
The market started with a positive note and continued till the market closure. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 4,659.99 points, gaining 11.24 points or 0.24 per cent. The DS30, comprising blue chips gained 3.98 points or 0.23 per cent to close at 1,704.06 points. However, the DSE Index (DSES) went down by 1.51 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 1,029.48 points. Turnover value on DSE came down to Tk 3.91 billion, registering a decline of 15.18 per cent over the previous day’s value of Tk 4.61 billion. The gainers took a strong lead over the losers as out of 290 issues traded, 190 advanced, 66 declined and 34 issues closed unchanged on the DSE floor. Lafarge Surma Cement became the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 260.29 million changing hands followed by Olympic Industries, Meghna petroleum, Heidelberg Cement and Square Pharma. Argon Denim was the day’s highest gainer; posting a rise of 6.85 per cent while Savar Refractories was the day’s worst losers, slumping by 6.52 per cent. The port city bourse - Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged marginally higher with its Selective Categories Index --- CSCX gained 55.41 points to stand at 8,997.32 points. Gainers beat losers 124 to 74, with 22 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 7.47 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 262.75 million.