Banks keep Dhaka stocks afloat

Image: Bizbangladesh.net
Dhaka stocks gained marginally for the second day on Sunday as a section of investors went for bargain hunting targeting bank scrips after the recent fall in the banks’ share prices.

Market operators said the bank scrips kept the market afloat on the day despite a fall in share prices of the majority of the other scrips.

DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, gained 0.14 per cent, or 7.26 points, to close at 4,975.73 points on Sunday after gaining 16.73 points in the previous session.

The market opened positive but dropped sharply before ending in the positive territory as investors continued trading cautiously, market operators said.

Turnover on the bourse plunged to Tk 384.12 crore on Sunday from Tk 411.73 crore in the previous session.

Share prices of the bank sector advanced by 1.1 per cent on the day.

Out of the 352 scrips traded on the day, 192 declined, 125 advanced and 36 remained unchanged.

Market operators said investors remained cautious as the market was yet to make a recovery despite regulatory efforts to assist the ailing market.

The government has recently taken some initiatives to revive the investors’ confidence in the market.

Bangladesh Bank last week decided to lend funds to the banks at low interest rate for investing in the market.

Investors were doubtful whether the banks would take the opportunity to invest in the ailing capital market, market operators said.

They said investors lost their confidence in the market as the key index of the DSE had remained bearish for last eight months.

Market experts said that the government should find out the root causes of the market fall and then should try to solve those problems.

They said that the market had been suffering from lack of interest of large investors, lack of diversity to pull funds, poor IPOs and easy access of unscrupulous elements in the market, making asymmetric business opportunity.

Fall in share prices of Grameenphone eased last week as finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that he was hopeful that the government would reach an ‘equilibrium’ position with Grameenphone in regards to an audit claim, market operators said.

But, the share prices of GP dropped by 0.67 per cent on Sunday as some investors went for profit-taking after a surge in last week.

Average share prices of textile declined by 1.2 per cent, energy 0.7 per cent, telecommunication 0.5 per cent and non-bank financial institution 0.2 per cent.

EBL Securities in its daily market commentary said, ‘Investors’ appetite for the bank sector pushed the index upward. However, investors still seemed to be sceptical about the market situation due to the recent market volatility, which kept the investors’ participation low.’

Blue-chip index DS30 decreased by 0.05 per cent, or 0.96 points, to close at 1,767.98 points.

DSE Shariah index DSES gained 0.08 per cent, or 1.01 points, to close at 1,149.54 points.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company led the turnover chart with its shares worth Tk 13.75 crore changing hands on the day.

Monno Jute Staffler, Monno Ceramic Industries, National Tubes, Sonar Bangla Insurance, Premier Bank, Stylecraft, Fortune Shoes, Legacy Footwear and National Polymer were the other turnover leaders.

Golden Harvest Agro Industries gained the most on the day with a 9.92-per cent increase in its share prices while ICB AMCL Second Mutual Fund was the worst loser, shedding 6.02 per cent.
Source: http://www.newagebd.net

Share this news on: