Stocks break losing streak

Dhaka stocks broke a two-day losing streak yesterday advancing 1.17 percent, as investors stopped selling shares amid optimism centring the passage of the Banking Companies Act.

The broad index—DSEX— gained 70.95 points to end the day at 6,128. It lost 121 points in the first two sessions of the week. However, the turnover dropped by 4.29 percent to Tk 388.70 crore from the previous day.

Lawmakers passed the proposed amendment to the Act in the evening.

The possibility for the amendment to get passed in parliament has prompted the investors to stop selling shares, said Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, managing director of UCB Capital Management.

The amendment will fuel buying spree as many new directors will have to purchase shares to get included in the boards of banks, industry insiders said.

The amendment allows the doubling of the number of directors in a bank's board from a single family and extends the tenure of directors from six years to nine years.

But the rebound is temporary as the market will become stable after getting clear direction from the upcoming monetary policy, Pasha said.

Among the major large cap sectors, banks, non-bank financial institutions and power posted 1.85 percent, 1.49 percent and 1.36 percent gains respectively at the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Some 241 securities gained, 50 declined and 43 remained unchanged. The DS30 and DSES indexes were 22.21 points and 13.52 points in the green respectively.

Dragon Sweater and Spinning Ltd topped the turnover chart. Earnings per share of the company rose more than 54 percent year-on-year to Tk 0.65 in the three months to December in 2017. Dragon Sweater gained Tk 2 or 9.89 percent to close at Tk 22.30 with its shares worth Tk 21.69 crore traded.