Dhaka stocks advanced slightly on Monday after a two-day fall, but the turnover remained low as most of the investors remained on the sideline amid economic worries in the country, market operators said.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, gained 8.58 points, or 0.13 per cent, and settled at 6,243.57 points after losing 27.31 points in the previous two trading sessions.
Market operators said that the market managed to end Monday’s session in the green zone as some investors went for buying shares after a fall in share prices of a number of companies.
A section of investors made fresh investments in some selective companies as shares of almost half of the companies were trading below their face value, they said.
However, share prices of about two-thirds of the companies remained stuck in their floor prices as investors were reluctant to buy stocks, they said.
Investors’ participation on the day remained low as most of the investors remained concerned about the ongoing economic worries in the country and market-related issues like floor price restrictions, they said.
Investors are facing multiple economic challenges, including inflation, rising external debts, foreign exchange market volatility, depleted foreign reserves, a growing trade deficit and energy crisis, which impacted on earnings of listed companies, said the market operators.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission had initially imposed the floor price restriction on all companies in July 2022 to prevent any excessive fall in stock prices amid economic worries in the country.
The regulator later lifted the restriction on 169 companies and imposed a 1-per cent downward circuit breaker on them.
However, the commission reinstated the floor price barrier on the 169 companies on March 1.
The turnover on the bourse increased to Tk 451.71 crore on Monday as against Tk 433.58 crore on Sunday.
Insurance, food and allied, IT, miscellaneous and tannery issues exerted the highest turnover on Monday.
Out of the 334 issues traded, 95 advanced, 38 declined, and 201 remained unchanged on the day.
Rupali Life Insurance, City General Insurance, Union Capital, Popular Life Insurance, BDCOM Online, National Feed Mill, Meghna Life Insurance, Sonali Life Insurance, Pragati Life Insurance and Padma Life Insurance were the top 10 gainers considering their closing prices on the day.
Unilever Consumer Care, Bangladesh Monospool Paper, Apex Foods, Jute Spinners, Anlimayarn Dyeing, Imam Button, Yeakin Polymer, Bangladesh General Insurance, Eastern Housing and ADN Telecom were the top 10 losers considering their closing prices on the day.
The DS30 index also increased by 1.94 points to finish at 2,223.49 points and the DSE Shariah index increased by 0.95 points to close at 1,359.86 points on the day.
Rupali Life Insurance topped the turnover chart with its shares worth Tk 27.74 crore changing hands.
BDCOM Online, Genex Infosys, ADN Telecom, Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa, Meghna Life Insurance, Eastern Housing, Aamra Networks, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation and Al-Haj Textile were the other turnover leaders on the day.
This NEWS originally published in Dhaka based News Paper The New Age.
