Stocks managed to extend their modest gains for the third straight session Wednesday amid persistent volatility as investors put money cautiously on selective issues ahead of monetary policy statements (MPS).
The Bangladesh Bank is scheduled to unveil the MPS for the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 today (Thursday).
The market opened higher and the key index rose nearly 30 points within the 20 minutes of trading. But the rest hours' volatility eroded most of the early gains, ultimately ending over 7.0 points higher.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 7.87 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 6,350. The core index added 49 points in the past three days.
The DS30 Index, comprising blue chips, also saw a fractional gain of 0.59 point to finish at 2,295. However, the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) dropped 0.24 points to close at 1,385.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 8.05 billion, which was 1.60 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 8.18 billion.
Market operators said some of the investors preferred to book profit while some others took the opportunity of buying shares at lucrative prices just ahead of the fiscal year closing.
The small investors are struggling amid persistent volatility in the market, said a merchant banker, seeking anonymity.
"Several unfavorable macroeconomic indicators like the soaring inflation, instability of exchange rates and rising virus infection cases might keep investors cautious," he said.
He noted that turnover remained above Tk 8.0 billion as a section of investors put funds on stocks to grab the opportunity of tax benefit just ahead of ending the fiscal year.
"Volatility continued on the trading floor as investors adopted a cautious stance amid the possibility of tighter monetary policy for the fiscal year 2022-23," according to EBL Securities.
The stockbroker noted that investors' concerns prevail due to increased import costs and currency volatility, and central bank's pumping dollars into the market, which may lead to a shortage of liquidity in the money market.
Major sectors showed mixed performances. Banking sector posted the highest gain of 0.80 per cent, followed by power with 0.30 per cent, pharma 0.30 per cent and engineering 0.20 per cent.
On the other hand, telecom, financial institutions and general insurance sectors suffered losses by 0.60 per cent each.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 381 issues traded, 172 declined, 157 advanced and 52 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Newly listed Meghna Insurance was the top gainer, posting a 9.78 per cent gain while Progressive Life Insurance was the day's worst loser, losing 1.99 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also posted a modest rise with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -gaining nearly 27 points to settle at 18,690 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -rising nearly 16 points to close at 11,203.
Of the issues traded, 135 declined, 116 advanced and 48 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 11.64 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth nearly Tk 204 million.
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