Stocks posted marginal gain last week that ended Thursday, snapping three weeks of losing spell as optimistic investors went on buying spree on lucrative stocks.
Market insiders said news-driven price movements were observed during the week, as investors reacted to corporate disclosures, while some booked quick profit in sector specific stocks.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions closed higher while two saw marginal fall.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), edged up by 10.23 points or 0.22 per cent to finish at 4,581.35 points.
The two other indices also closed higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 16.86 points or 0.97 per cent to settle at 1,759.59. The DSE Shariah Index gained 10.45 points or 0.94 per cent to close at 1,118.87.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged higher after three weeks with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, advancing 40.28 points or 0.47 per cent to end at 8,590.10.
However, the participation from the investors remained poor as total turnover for the week stood at Tk 18.64 billion which was Tk 20.57 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged Tk 3.73 billion, which was 9.41 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 4.11 billion.
"The participation from the investors remained shaky as no clear indication of better market outlook was apparent to them during the week," said International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, in its weekly analysis.
However, favorable corporate declaration in last session of the week attracted most of the investors' attention, said the stockbroker.
Overall activities remained confined on pharma, engineering and power sectors, where they captured 18 per cent, 14 per cent, 12 per cent respectively of the week's total turnover.
IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, in its weekly analysis, "Indecisive investment mindset kept investors focused on volatility generated profit opportunities throughout the week".
However, hesitant trading behavior showed up pushing the market participation down, said the merchant bank.
The merchant bank noted that some news driven price movements were noticed as Makson Spinning plunged by 20.9 per cent following its placement in 'Z' category due to no dividend declaration.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills and BSRM Steels posted gains of 25 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively following their attractive corporate disclosure on the last session of the week, said the merchant bank.
"After having a downward trend in January, the benchmark DSEX seems to be consolidating with a base around 4,560-level," said LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, in an analysis.
Royal Capital, a stockbroker, said, "Most of the investors were in buying mood while some of them followed wait-and-see approach during the week".
The stockbroker noted that return to risk ratio tracked with better market performance per unit of risk level. Besides the market growth has improved significantly in compared to last week.
"Some good dividend declaration ignited the investors' expectation in the last trading session and strong buoyancy in some big-cap stocks motivated the sideliners to join in the fence as big-cap stocks were floating in lucrative price," said MTB Capital, a merchant bank.
Three listed companies - Grameenphone, Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills and BSRM Steels recommended dividend last week while Maksons Spinning Mills recommended no dividend.
Grameenphone recommended 140 per cent cash dividend while Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills recommended 30 per cent cash and BSRM Steels recommended 5.0 per cent cash and 10 per cent stock dividend.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 330 issues traded, 221 closed lower, 94 higher and 15 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor during the week.
The market capitalisation of the DSE edged up by 0.25 per cent as it was Tk 3,165.89 billion on the opening day of the week and it stood at Tk 3,173.94 billion on closing day of the week.
Beximco Pharma dominated the week's turnover chart with 12.34 million shares worth Tk 1.14 billion changing hands followed by Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills Tk 638 million, City Bank Tk 431 million, Square Pharma Tk 423 million and United Power Generation & Distribution Company Tk 413 million.
Libra Infusion was the best performer for the second straight week, posting a rise of 26.41 per cent while Maksons Spinning Mills was the week's worst loser, slumping by 20.93 per cent following its no dividend recommendation.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
