Stocks stay positive for 2nd week

Stocks finished slightly higher last week, extending the gaining spell for the two consecutive weeks, as optimistic investors remained active on sector-specific stocks.
Analysts said the market posted slight gain during the week that ended on Thursday as mixed sentiments prevailed throughout the week after the quarterly earnings disclosure and some positive news in economic frontier.
"Trading activities remained high as market participants were active on both sides of trading fence throughout week," said an analyst.
He said the risk-averse investors went for booking quick-profit while enthusiastic investors took position on sector-specific stocks amid optimism, thereby helping the market witness higher turnover. The week witnessed five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions closed slightly higher while two saw marginal correction.
Weak-on-week, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went up by 4.26 points or 0.09 per cent to close at 4,677.14. The two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising the blue chips, saw a fractional gain of 0.39 points or 0.02 per cent to settle at 1,758.16 while the DSE Shariah Index advanced 4.42 points or 0.40 per cent to close at 1,122.48.
Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also finished marginally higher with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, advancing 28.53 points or 0.33 per cent to end at 8,752.99.
Trading activities improved significantly and the total turnover for the week amounted to Tk 29.47 billion which was nearly 35 per cent higher than the previous week's Tk 21.84 billion.
The daily turnover average was Tk 5.89 billion, registering an increase of 35 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 4.37 billion. Fuel and power continued to lead the sectoral turnover chart for the third consecutive week, capturing 16 per cent of the week's total turnover value, driven by stronger trade value in Doreen Power and MJL Bangladesh.
"The result of US elections has usually no major bearing on the performance of the Bangladesh stock market due to a largely insulated economy here. Nothing was different this time around," said LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker.
"The market held up strongly ending the last trading session in the green although Trump's victory sparked panic on global markets earlier," said the stockbroker.
The stockbroker noted that mixed sentiments prevailed throughout the week after the quarterly earnings disclosure and some positive news in economic frontier.
IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said, "Almost all the companies disclosed their corporate declarations and year-end earnings for the year ended on June 30, 2016 while Q1 earnings for the year FY 2017 became due which has been creating expectations among the investors."
"This  was  termed  by  the  increased  level  of  activities  in  recent period. As a consequence, average daily turnover improved significantly by 35 per cent to Tk 5.90 billion," said the merchant bank.
Sheltech Brokerage said news of four new 100MW power plant allocations among Doreen Power, Confidence Cement, Baraka Power and Shasha Denims, kept them in focus throughout the week.
A total of 10 listed companies recommended dividend last week while three other companies declared no dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2016.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 328 issues traded, 173 closed lower, 134 closed higher and 21 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor during the last week.
Sahsha Denims was the week's best performer, posting a 31.41 per cent rise while Rahim Textile was the worst loser, slumping by 27.42 per cent.
[email protected]