High turnover lifts stocks

Stocks extended gains for another session on Tuesday as investors were mostly active buying stocks that recently hit lucrative price levels. 

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, advanced 31 points – or 0.7 percent – to close the day at 4,466. 

The Shariah-based DSES index also gained 8 points, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 1,038, while the blue-chip index DS30 gained 5 points, or 0.4 percent, to stand at 1,485. 

At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, the benchmark index Caspi advanced 107 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 13,666.

The market started on Tuesday's trading session with early gains and continued this growth momentum till the mid-session. However, it then started to decline and continued to do so till the end of the session, but managed to keep the indices afloat. 

Investors showed enthusiasm on some trusted securities, as their stock prices had hit a lucrative level due to the price corrections in the past few days, according to the Daily Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd. 

The Daily Market Review of UCB Capital Management Ltd stated that investors are speculating banks would soon form special funds to invest in the capital market. 

As per the Bangladesh Bank's directive, each scheduled bank is allowed to borrow up to Tk200 crore from the central bank as easy-term loans for investing in the stock market, the review added. 

All sectors witnessed price appreciation on Tuesday – except telecom exhibiting a price correction of 1 percent, and life insurance stocks losing 0.2 percent in the sector return board. 

The cement sector faced the highest price appreciation of 3.8 percent. 

Among the large-cap sectors, financial institutions witnessed a price gain of 2.2 percent, pharmaceuticals advanced 0.3 percent and banks inched up 0.2 percent. 

Turnover at the DSE jumped by 45 percent to Tk609.1 crore Tuesday, from Tk419.7 crore in the previous session. On the other hand, turnover at the port city bourse went up 51 percent from Tk16 crore to Tk24.1 crore.

The pharmaceuticals sector contributed the most, 24.6 percent, to the total turnover value, followed by textile stocks adding 19.7 percent and the engineering sector adding 12.3 percent in the sector wise turnover distribution board. 
 
VFS Thread Dyeing Ltd dominated the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk18.5 crore, closing the day at Tk31.9 per share. The stock was followed by Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd with a turnover value of Tk16.7 crore, closing at Tk191 per share. 

Nurani Dyeing and Sweater Ltd and Silco Pharmaceuticals Ltd topped the gainers' table after advancing 10 percent each and closing at Tk9.9 and Tk28.6 per share respectively, said the DSE website.

Standard Ceramic Industries Ltd was the day's worst loser after shedding 8.4 percent and closing at Tk358.9 per share on Tuesday. 

Gainers sharply outnumbered the losers as out of the 355 issues traded, 233 advanced, 84 declined, and 38 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.