Indices post marginal gains amid low turnover

Indices posted marginal gains on Tuesday, however, turnover dropped because of investors' sluggish participation due to the fixed floor price limit.

DSEX, the prime index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), gained 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to close the day at 3,962.

The Shariah-based DSES index also inched up 0.4 points, or 0.04 percent, to settle at 917.8, while the blue-chip index DS30 went up 4 points, or 0.3 percent, to stand at 1,329.

Meanwhile, the benchmark index Caspi at the Chittagong Stock Exchange lost 5 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 11,245.

The market exhibited a sharp gain in points during the early hours of trade on its intraday performance graph and then remained flat throughout the session. At the end of the session, it again witnessed a steep rise and the prime index stayed afloat above the 3,900-point mark.

"The regulator's attempt to keep the bourse afloat has done very little to calm the nerves of panicked investors," stated the Daily Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd.

"On the contrary, the fixed floor price limit has resulted in lack of liquidity and extremely low turnover," the review added.

Life insurance stocks posted the highest price correction of 0.4 percent while pharmaceutical and banking stocks posted the highest price appreciation of 0.3 percent each in the sector return board on Tuesday.

Among the large-cap sectors, textiles, telecoms and cement remained flat.

Turnover at the DSE decreased by 36 percent from Tk106 crore to Tk67.7 crore on Tuesday, out of which Tk22.7 crore was block trade.

Over a year, average block trade was less than five percent of the average daily turnover on the market. After fixing the floor price, it went up as much as one-third of the daily average turnover. As a result, the public market is being dried up and the block market is grasping all trade activities.

Meanwhile, turnover at the port city bourse increased massively by 4,780 percent from Tk1.5 crore to Tk73.2 crore.

The pharmaceuticals sector contributed the most – 40.1 percent – to the total turnover value. It was followed by banking stocks adding 25.8 percent and the fuel and power sector adding 10.4 percent on the sector-wise turnover distribution board.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd topped the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk5.2 crore, closing the day at Tk63.9 per share. The stock was followed by Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd with a turnover value of Tk3.8 crore, closing the day at Tk172.5 per share.

Pubali Bank Ltd was the best performer on the gainers' table, gaining 5.3 percent and closing at Tk21.8 per share.

Prime Insurance Company Ltd was the worst loser, shedding 6.5 percent and closing at Tk17.3 per share.

Out of the 279 issues traded on Tuesday, 25 advanced, 16 declined, and 238 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.