Turnover drops despite stocks rising

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell by about 20 per cent yesterday as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach even though major indices continued to move upward.

Many investors think the market will drop again if profit-taking ensues and so, they opted for a wait-and-see approach, according to a merchant banker.

But since optimistic investors poured in their funds for the past few days, the main index of the DSE remains over 7,000 points, he said.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the bourse, edged up eight points, or 0.12 per cent, to 7,081 by the end of the day.

However, turnover at the DSE plunged to Tk 1,150 crore, down 20.8 per cent from Tk 1,449 crore the previous day.

Among major sectors, textiles, services and real estate, and life insurance closed in the positive while general insurance, non-bank financial institutions, and IT faced correction.

Stocks of Beximco Ltd traded the most, worth Tk 66 crore, followed by Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Fortune Shoes, Orion Pharmaceuticals, and Bay Leasing.

Alltex Industries topped the gainers list, rising 10 per cent, followed by Tamijuddin Textiles, Union Insurance, Appollo Ispat, and BD Thai Food.

Yeakin Polymer shed the most, dropping 4.75 per cent, followed by Express Insurance, Daffodil Computers, Green Delta Insurance, and Crystal Insurance.

At the DSE, 205 stocks advanced, 128 fell and 46 remained the same.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also rose yesterday as the CASPI, the main index of the port city bourse, added 5 points, or 0.02 per cent, to hit 20,720.

Among the 303 traded stocks, 143 rose, 115 fell and 45 remained unchanged.