Stocks end week with mixed performance

The share market in Bangladesh ended the week with a mixed performance as the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) extended its gaining streak while the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed a downward trend yesterday.

However, investors and industry people voiced optimism about the return of good governance as the interim government took a slew of measures to reform the financial sector, particularly the capital market.

Buoyed by the measures, the investors were cautiously pouring fresh funds into the lucrative shares to pocket short-term gains amid the price movements.

As such, the DSEX, the broad index of the country's premier bourse, surged by 12.56 points, or 0.22 percent from the previous day, to close at 5,726.51, marking a rising trend for a third successive day.

Similarly, the DSES, the index for the Shariah-based companies, grew by 4.76 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,245.68. However, the DS30 index that is composed of blue-chip firms slipped by 7.06 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,100.75.

The day's turnover, which is an important indicator that measures the total value of shares traded on the DSE, stood at Tk 733.3 crore, an increase of 17.31 percent compared to the previous day's trading session.

Linde Bangladesh Limited was the most traded share with a turnover of Tk 51.7 crore.

With a 0.74 percent rise in share prices, the company topped the turnover list, followed by ACME Laboratories, NRB Bank, and Sonali Aansh Industries with hikes of 2.32 percent, 2.21 percent and 8.72 percent respectively.

Block trades, meaning high-volume transactions in securities that are privately negotiated and executed outside of the open market, contributed 7.5 percent of the day's overall market turnover.

The majority of shares witnessed a price fall on the trading floor of the DSE. Out of 397 scrips, the prices of 181 saw decline, 158 remained higher and 58 did not experience any price fluctuations.

Most of the large-cap sectors, which account for large amounts in market capitalisation -- the total value of a company's outstanding shares -- posted negative performances yesterday, according to the daily market update by BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage.

The telecommunication sector experienced the highest loss of 1.31 percent followed by non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), food and allied, fuel and power, and banks with losses of 0.71 percent, 0.35 percent, 0.17 percent and 0.16 respectively.

The engineering sector recorded a rise of 0.16 percent, and the pharmaceuticals sector logged 0.74 percent.

Shares of companies like Islami Bank Bangladesh, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Kohinoor Chemicals, United Commercial Bank, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Orion Infusion, Orion Pharma, National Bank and ACME Laboratories drew a lot of investors, according to LankaBangla Financial Portal.

But none of the companies saw a double-digit growth in prices. Islami Bank Bangladesh made the highest growth of 3.32 percent, closely followed by Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries with a growth of 3.08 percent.

Olympic Industries, BRAC Bank, Grameenphone, Confidence Cement, IFIC Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Square Pharmaceuticals, Robi Axiata, Delta Life Insurance and GPH Ispat suffered losses.

At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, the CASPI, the prime index of the port city bourse, edged down by 21.94 points, or 0.13 percent, to settle at 16,140.02.