Stocks nudge higher as telecom issues surge

Stocks ticked slightly higher for the second straight session on Tuesday as investors showed their buying appetite on telecommunication and pharmaceuticals issues.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,288, advancing 9.29 points or 0.17 per cent over the previous day.
The market opened on positive note and the core index crossed the 5,300-mark, gaining more than 24 points within first hour of trading. But rest of the session eroded most of the early gains.
Market insiders said some investors followed cautious stance and are closely eyeing the political development as elections nears while some were busy with rebalancing their portfolio.
According to Sheltech Brokerage, the market closed higher led by multinational companies like Marico, Berger Paints and telecommunication.
Share price of Marico Bangladesh rose 6.23 per cent to close at Tk 1352.20 each, Berger Paints share price jumped 4.60 per cent to close at 1432 and Grameenphone share rose 1.22 per cent to close at Tk 366.
"The upward shift in the index is mainly driven by positive changes in large-cap sectors - telecommunication, food and pharmaceuticals sectors," said LankaBangla Securities, in its regular market analysis.
Telecommunication posted the highest gain of 1.17 per cent followed by pharmaceuticals 0.78 per cent, and food 0.34 per cent.
Two other indices-the DS30 index and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES)-also ended slightly higher.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 4.31 points to finish at 1,862 and the DSE Shariah Index rose 2.15 points to close at 1,226.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, also rose to Tk 6.38 billion, which was 3.70 per cent higher than the previous day's Tk 6.15 billion.
The textile sector kept its dominance in the turnover chart, capturing 23 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals with 18 per cent and power 14 per cent.
A total number of 151,846 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 149.10 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 3,842 billion on the day which was Tk 3,828 billion in the previous day.
The engineering sector witnessed the highest loss of 0.19 per cent, followed by banking with 0.18 per cent, financial institutions 0.26 per cent and power 0.12 per cent.
The gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 336 issues traded, 159 advanced, 133 declined and 44 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Khulna Power Company topped the DSE turnover chart with 5.35 million shares worth Tk 372 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Berger Paints, United Power, Saiham Cotton Mills and Western Marine Shipyard.
ML Dyeing was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.90 per cent while Atlas Bangladesh was the worst loser, losing 11.25 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
The port city bourse CSE also ended slightly higher with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -advancing 19 points to settle at 16,197 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -gaining 10 points to finish at 9,820.
The losers beat gainers as 106 issues closed lower, 105 ended higher and 35 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 8.34 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 239 million in turnover.

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