Dhaka stocks bounce back after five-day fall

Stocks listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) bounced back yesterday, snapping a five-day losing streak.

The DSEX, the key index of the country's premier bourse, added 35 points, or 0.57 percent, to end at 6,166 points.

The DSES, an index that represents shariah-based firms, edged up 0.19 percent to 1,343 points while the DS30, which comprises blue-chip stocks, closed 0.41 percent higher at 2,106 points.

However, the DSE's daily turnover slipped 13.4 percent to Tk 730 crore.

Of the issues traded, 176 advanced, 155 declined and 65 did not see any price fluctuations.

Market movement was driven by positive changes in the market cap of food and allied, telecommunication, and paper and printing scrips amid negative changes in the market cap of travel and leisure, engineering and cement scrips, according to market research by Shanta Securities Ltd.

Asiatic Laboratories took pole position on the top gainers' chart with an increase of 10 percent followed by Paramount Insurance Company with 9.90 percent.

The two were followed by Yeakin Polymer, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Shasha Denims and Golden Son with rises of 7.76 percent, 6.60 percent, 6.55 percent and 6.39 percent respectively.

Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company shed the most, losing 8.33 percent.

First Finance sustained a loss of 6 percent while Mithun Knitting and Dyeing, BD Thai Aluminium, Fareast Finance and Investment and Intech lost more than 4 percent each.

In its daily market update, BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage said most large-cap sectors posted a positive performance yesterday.

Food and allied booked the highest gain of 4.38 percent followed by telecommunication (1.09 percent), pharmaceutical (0.25 percent), fuel and power (0.23 percent) and bank (0.03 percent).

Meanwhile, the NBFI and engineering sectors lost 0.05 percent and 0.87 percent respectively.

The situation was similar at the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) as the Caspi, the main index of the port city bourse, rose by 49 points, or 0.28 percent, to 17,645 points.

Among the issues traded at the CSE, 110 rose, 107 retreated and 30 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, turnover of the port city bourse rose by more than 78 percent to Tk 22.73 crore.