Dhaka stocks up despite poor participation

Shares on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) were slightly up yesterday despite the poor participation of investors amid the ongoing economic crisis.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the premier bourse in Bangladesh, inched up 7 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 6,215.

Turnover, an important indicator of the market, fell to Tk 323 crore, down 40 per cent from the previous session's Tk 540 crore.

The DS30, the blue-chip index, slipped 0.29 per cent to 2,189 while the DSES, the shariah-compliant index, was down 0.33 per cent at 1,354. Of the securities, only 46 advanced, 28 declined and 240 did not show any price movement.

In its market analysis, International Leasing Securities Ltd said the pessimist investors continued their selling binge from the opening of the session except for the last hour of the day.

Confused about the direction of the market, amid the dragging uncertainty, shaky investors remained on the sidelines and were reluctant to make fresh investments in stocks. With high inflation eating into people's savings, deposits flow to banks in the first quarter of the current financial year declined by half, the brokerage house said.  Chartered Life Insurance Company topped the gainers' list with a 9.89 per cent increase.

Apex Foods shares rose 8.04 per cent, Advent Pharma was up 7.26 per cent while Bangladesh Monospool Paper Manufacturing and ADN Telecom both advanced more than 5 per cent.

Orion Infusion suffered the highest correction, sliding more than 7 per cent. GPH Ispat shed 5.29 per cent while Ambee Pharmaceuticals, Fine Foods, and Sonali Paper & Board Mills lost more than 2 per cent.

Genex Infosys Limited was the most-traded stock with its shares worth Tk 24 crore transacted. Chartered Life Insurance Company, Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa, Orion Pharma, and Padma Islami Life Insurance also witnessed significant turnover.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange dropped for the second consecutive day.

The Caspi, the all-share price index of the bourse in the port city, lost 0.93 points, or 0.0051 per cent, to close at 18,339.

Of the issues, 36 rose, 22 retreated and 70 did not see any price swing.

Turnover surged more than 20 per cent to Tk 13.2 crore from Tk 11.01 crore in the previous session.

HOW MARKETS FARED IN THE WEEK

The stock market passed a gloomy week and lost 50.9 points as investors mostly followed a cautious stance. The market opened with a downward trend in the week that sustained throughout the week except for a moderate bounce on Tuesday.

The panic-driven investors dumped their holdings and preferred to hold cash in hand amid the deepening macroeconomic stability as well as to meet rising expenses because of the higher inflation, said International Leasing Securities Ltd. 

Investors' participation remained thin on the trading floor as most of the stocks were hovering around the floor prices, prompting average turnover to slump by 31.52 per cent.

Sectoral performance was mixed.

The food and allied sector went up 1.3 per cent, the fuel and power sector rose 1.3 per cent, and the life insurance sector was up 1 per cent.

The paper sector shed 10.2 per cent, the IT sector declined 6.6 per cent, and the jute sector gave up 6.5 per cent.

The Caspi lost 153.3 points between Sunday and Thursday.