Business Desk :
Stocks edged higher on Sunday as most investors followed a cautious stance ahead of December-end earnings and dividend declarations.
The market witnessed high volatility before closing marginally higher as investors traded cautiously.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 3.57 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 7,089. DSEX added 38 points in the past four consecutive sessions.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 7.55 points to finish at 2,605 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 5.35 points to close at 1,522.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 12.75 billion, which was 1.68 per cent higher than the previous day’s tally of Tk 12.54 billion.
Market analysts said the market witnessed volatile trading in the past four trading sessions as investors traded cautiously amid profit booking tendency on sector-specific issues.
Favourable macroeconomic indicators, however, prompted some investors to take positions on sector-wise stocks, taking the market index and turnover slightly higher, they said.
Losers, however, took a modest lead over the gainers, as out of 379 issues traded, 196 declined, 142 advanced and 41 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.
A total number of 341,916 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 181.03 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE rose to Tk 5,671 billion on Sunday, up from Tk 5,667 billion in the previous session.
Fortune Shoes, which gained 7.34 per cent, was the most traded stock with shares worth over Tk 989 million changing hands, followed by Orion Pharma (Tk 562 million), Beximco (Tk 492 million), Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 437 million) and Saif Powertec (Tk 297 million).
Aramit Cement was the day’s top gainer, posting a 9.97 per cent rise while Queen South Textile Mills was the worst loser, losing 7.11 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also posted marginal gain with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI -gaining 6.38 points to settle at 20,775 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX-rising 1.40 points to close at 12,473.
Of the issues traded, 152 declined, 129 advanced and 74 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 19.07 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 575 million.
