Stocks post marginal gain after volatile trading

Stocks ended slightly higher on Sunday as some optimistic investors showed their buying binge on sector-specific issues.
Market operators said a section of investors showed their buying appetite while some were busy with rebalancing their portfolios based on quarterly earnings results.
"A section of investors are closely eyeing the political front and observing the country's political situation as election nears," said an analyst.
Meanwhile, share price of Monno Jute Stafflers plunged 76.39 per cent or Tk 4,304 each to close at 1,330.20 on Sunday after price adjustment on record date.
"The company's share price fell drastically after price adjustment of 350 per cent stock dividend declared for the year ended on June 30, 2018," said a leading broker.
Monno Stafflers became the most valued stock as its share price jumped to Tk 5,634.20 each on Wednesday last.
The market opened on positive note and the positive trend sustained till end of the session amid modest volatility.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,256, advancing 11.43 points or 0.22 per cent over the previous day.
"The upward shift in the index is mainly driven by significant positive changes in some of the large-cap sectors like pharma, food and engineering," commented LankaBangla Securities in its regular market analysis.
The DSE Shariah Index also advanced 4.37 points to close at 1,212. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 3.06 points to settle at 1,853.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, remained same as total turnover amounted to Tk 5.56 billion like previous session.
The textile sector topped the turnover chart, grabbing 18 per cent of the day's total turnover, closely followed by pharmaceuticals with 17.50 per cent and power 17 per cent.
According to EBL Securities, the optimistic investors opted to take fresh position on sector specific stocks, particularly from pharmaceuticals, food and textile sectors.
A total number of 125,635 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 135.70 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 3,820 billion on Thursday which was Tk 3,814 billion in the previous day.
The major sectors showed mixed performances. Pharmaceuticals posted the highest gain of 0.94 per cent, followed by food and allied with 0.92 per cent, financial institutions 0.75 per cent and engineering 0.52 per cent.
Telecommunication witnessed the highest loss of 0.65 per cent, followed by banking with 0.55 per cent and power 0.26 per cent.
The gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 315 issues traded, 144 advanced, 128 declined and 43 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
United Power topped the DSE turnover chart with 1.23 million shares worth Tk 395 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Khulna Power Company, SK Trims Industries, Saiham Cotton Mills, and IFAD Autos.
Rangpur Dairy Food was also the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.85 per cent while Monno Jute Stafflers was the worst loser, losing 76.39 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
The port city bourse CSE closed ended higher with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -advancing 74 points to settle at 16,129 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -rising 45 points to finish at 9,774.
The gainers beat losers as 111 issues closed higher, 89 ended lower and 20 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 9.76 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 250 million in turnover.

[email protected]