Stocks post marginal gains amid volatility

Stocks ended with marginal gains following the previous session's volatility that was prevailing until the middle of the Tuesday session.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, stayed afloat at the end of trading on Tuesday and went marginally up by 8.40 points or 0.17% to close at 5,101.

Investors were active on both sides of the trading fence throughout Tuesday's session, said brokerage firm EBL Securities.

However, investors took a cautious stance in the time of frequent ups and downs in indices which reduced the DSE's daily turnover by 13.3% to below Tk996 crore.

At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, broad index CSCX gained 0.19% to close at 8,739.4. On the other hand, CSE 30 gained 0.32%.

Turnover at the port city bourse came down to Tk26 crore on Tuesday from Tk39 crore in the previous session.

Notably, blue chip indices at both the stock exchanges outperformed the broader indices.

Central Depository Bangladesh Limited data showed that new investors are entering to pour fresh investment in the market to make profit out of the prolonged bullish vibe.

Moreover, the Asian Development Bank announced that the economy of Bangladesh is expected to grow at 6.8% in the fiscal year 2021, which is still a relaxing figure in contrast with that of any of its South-East Asian peers. 

Meanwhile, investors' attention was mostly concentrated on general insurance, pharmaceuticals, and engineering stocks with the sectors contributing over 18%, 15% and 10% of the daily turnover respectively.

Besides, most of the sectors displayed mixed performance. General insurance gained 3.3% in market capitalisation, followed by food and jute stocks.

Mainly due to sector wise concentration rotation, service and real estate, mutual fund, and telecom sectors faced high price corrections.