Stocks open month on positive note

Stocks began the journey in positive territory in the month of December on Sunday, extending the gaining streak for five straight sessions, as investors showed their appetite on financial issues.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 4,758, advancing 27.37 points or 0.57 per cent.
DSEX added 70 points in the past five consecutive sessions.
Market analysts said investors showed their buying spree on sector specific issues, particularly, bank and non-bank financial institutions, taking the market in the green zone.
The heavyweight banking sector booked the highest gain of 2.32 per cent with prices of 27 banks closed higher, out of 30. The financial institutions also surged 1.70 per cent.
Five large-cap stocks - BATBC, Square Pharma, Brac Bank, LafargeHolcim and ICB-- contributed 13 points rise of DSEX jointly, said a leading broker.
However, Grameenphone (GP), which is the largest company by capital, fell 2.14 per cent to close at Tk 312, contributing more than 14 points fall of DSEX alone.
Two other indices also inched down. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 2.87 points to finish at 1,644 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 4.53 points to close at 1,077.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, rose to Tk 5.21 billion, which was 21 per cent higher than the previous day's turnover of Tk 4.30 billion.
According to UCB Capital Management, recent downfall of the market encouraged the investors to take position believing that market has reached its rock-bottom level.
International Leasing Securities said investors were active on bank and financial institutions stocks on lucrative price levels which helped the benchmark index to close higher.
The telecommunication sector witnessed the highest loss of 2.10 per cent, followed by power with 1.02 per cent, engineering 0.32 per cent and pharma 0.21 per cent.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 353 issues traded, 166 closed higher, 150 ended lower and 37 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 144,316 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 242.70 million shares and mutual fund units. The market-cap of the DSE rose slightly to Tk 3,569 billion on Sunday, from Tk 3,567 billion in the previous session.
LafargeHolcim Bangladesh topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 283 million changing hands, followed by Fortune Shoes, United Finance, Paramount Textile and LankaBangla Finance.
Premier Leasing was the best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Stylecraft was the worst loser, plunging by 56.49 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
The port city's bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also edged higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-advancing 68 points to close at 14,460 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -gaining 38 points to finish at 8,782.

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