Dhaka stocks inch upward

Staff Correspondent
Dhaka stocks gained slightly on Thursday amid a volatile trend at the market in recent weeks, market operators said.
The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 6.16 points, or 0.23 per cent, to close at 2671.06, while its blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 2.97 points, or 0.14 per cent, to finish at 2189.21.
A DSE stockbroker said the market finished almost flat as investors remained shaky amid the recent bearish trend in the market.
Dhaka stocks finished mixed on Wednesday after Tuesday’s quick-fire surge. On Tuesday, the market jumped after the Securities and Exchange Commission held a market-review meeting with merchant banks and stock exchanges.
The stock market regulatory body convened the meeting following a demonstration of a group of retail investors in front of the DSE building on Monday amid a continuous fall in share prices in recent weeks.
Of the total 254 issues traded on Thursday, 188 advanced, 61 declined and five remained unchanged.
Turnover at the DSE, however, dropped to Tk 244.62 crore from the Wednesday’s Tk 299.55 crore.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover leaders with a total transaction of Tk 16.08 crore.
Shinepukur Ceramics, Beximco, Titas Gas, Apex Tannery, Summit Power, Fu Wang Food, ACI Formulations, Aftab Automobiles, and Quasem Drycells were the rest of the top 10 turnover leaders on the day.
Chittagong stocks also posted a marginal gain on Thursday.
The selective categories index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 14.53 points, or 0.27 per cent, to close at 5357.23, while its blue chips index, CSE30, advanced by 1.95 points, or 0.03 per cent, to finish at 7008.33.
Of the total 144 issues traded on the CSE floor, 86 posted gains, 52 dropped, and six remained unchanged.
Turnover at the CSE, however, went down to Tk 33.13 crore from the Wednesday’s Tk 41.02 crore.