Dhaka stocks inch up after two-day slump

Dhaka stocks inched higher on Monday, after remaining down in the past two straight sessions.

DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,326, advancing 3.15 points or 0.05 per cent over the previous session.

Brokers said the market finished almost flat with increased trading activities as pre-Eid sale pressure eased to some extent.

Today (Tuesday) is the last trading day on the bourses before starting the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation.

Trading and official activities on the bourses will remain closed from June 13 on the occasion of the Eid.

The vacation will continue till June 18, if the Eid is observed on June 16. If it is on on June 17, the holidays would be extended to June 19, DSE officials said.

However, many investors remained cautious as there was no specific direction on the capital market except corporate tax cut for the listed banks and financial institutions, said an analyst.

The market started on an upward trend and the key index soared nearly 32 points within 30 minutes of trading.

But rest of the session wiped out most of the early gains amid late hours' selling spree.

However, the other indices of the premier bourse edged lower.

The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 1.08 points to finish at 1,953 points and DSES (Shariah) lost 1.40 points to close at 1,228 points.

"The investors took position on the lucrative price level in different stocks, particularly financial institution, fuel & power and banking stocks," commented International Leasing Securities.

According to AT Capital Partners, the market closed flat backed by heavyweight stock GP as it lost 3.6 per cent compared to last day.

Telecommunication sector posted negative movements, plunging by 3.45 per cent as Grameenphone's share price fell Tk 13.90 each to close at Tk 377.

The financial institutions sector witnessed the highest gain of 1.60 per cent, followed by power 0.60 per cent, banking 0.20 per cent and engineering 0.10 per cent.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 4.50 billion, registering an increase of 10 per cent over the previous day's Tk 4.08 billion.

The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 338 issues traded, 157 closed lower, 137 closed higher and 44 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

United Power topped the DSE turnover chart with shares worth Tk 327 million changing hands, closely followed by Square Pharmaceuticals, Grameenphone, Pharma Aid and Alif Industries.

Popular Life Insurance was the best performer, posting a gain of 9.91 per cent while Shympur Sugar Mills was the day's worst loser, shedding 6.59 per cent.

The port city's bourse CSE closed lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CAPSI- shedding 22 points to settle at 16,395 and Selective Categories Index - CSCX - losing 13 points to finish at 9,915 points.

Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 104 issues closed lower, 74 higher and 33 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse traded 3.30 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 108 million in turnover.

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