Stocks end slightly up on week's first day

Stocks opened the week on a slightly positive note as the key market index crossed the 4,800 points level after five trading days yesterday. 

DSEX, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, added just 9.71 points or 0.2 percent before closing at 4,802 points.

Most market players found earnings declarations to be the only influential incentive, especially in the absence of any conspicuous stimulus in the monetary policy statement for the first half of this fiscal year, IDLC Investments said.

However, mixed earnings data kept the market static with minor volatilities across the session, the merchant bank added. “Investors were enthusiastic this session, rebalancing their portfolio to capture new opportunities, which resulted in a surge of activities.”

Investors were mostly active in the trading of multinational, pharma and construction material companies stocks, LankaBangla Securities said.

As news of mixed earnings flooded the market, traders took positions keeping in mind company fundamentals, the stockbroker added.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, jumped 28 percent to Tk 806.53 crore on transactions of 19.46 crore shares and mutual fund units.

Of the traded issues, 141 advanced and 149 declined with 29 securities closing unchanged on the premier bourse.

Lafarge Surma Cement dominated the turnover chart with 23.39 lakh shares worth Tk 29.78 crore changing hands, followed by Khulna Power Company, Beximco Pharma, Desco and FAR Chemical Industries.

Among the major sectors, engineering stocks gained 2.24 percent in market capitalisation, followed by banks that increased 0.78 percent, pharma 0.71 percent and textile 0.7 percent.

Conversely, telecom lost 1.43 percent, followed by cement with 0.44 percent and non-banking financial institutions at 0.2 percent.

First ICB Mutual Fund was the day's best performer with 19.5 percent gain, while Meghna Life Insurance was the worst loser with an 18.76 percent fall. Chittagong stocks rose marginally with the bourse's benchmark index, CSCX, increasing 18.4 points to close at 8,977.99.

However, losers beat gainers 133 to 100, while 28 others finished unchanged on the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

The port city bourse traded 1.64 crore shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 60.76 crore in turnover.