Dhaka stocks witnessed a slight rise on Thursday after a fall in the previous session, as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence, before the announcement of the national budget for the 2024-25 financial year later on the day, market operators said.
Finance minister Abul Hasaan Mahmood Ali placed the national budget for the 2024-25 financial year before parliament on Thursday.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, increased by 12.95 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 5,237.32 points on the day after losing 23.16 points in the previous trading session.
With the increase in investors鈥� activity, the total turnover on the bourse rose to Tk聽542.60 crore compared with that of Tk聽381.34 crore in the previous session.
Market operators said that the market opened Thursday鈥檚 session downbeat, but started showing positive signs after the first hour and continued to climb till the end of the session, ultimately ending in the green territory.
Market operators attributed the current volatile situation of the market to mounting economic worries, particularly the continued decline in the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves, which had dampened investor sentiment.
Over the past 15 weeks, the market had advanced in just three of those weeks.
Furthermore, investors are adopting a cautious approach and closely monitoring the market trend as Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, is approaching, market operators said.
Of the 396 issues traded on the day, 152 advanced, 168 declined and 76 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index increased by 1.23 points, or 0.10 per cent, to close at 1,136.76 points on Thursday.
The DS30 index witnessed an increase, by 3.59 points or 0.19 per cent, to finish at 1,857.97 points.
On the sectoral front, food issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by the pharmaceutical and engineering shares.
EBL Securities in its daily commentary said, 鈥楾he market recovered from the initial dip and ended in green territory, riding on the late-session buying appetite of opportunistic investors with their anticipation of quick gains.鈥�
British American Tobacco Bangladesh topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk聽56.50 crore changing hands.
Meghna Petroleum, Unilever Consumer Care, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Fortune Shoes, Coppertech Industries, Orion Pharma, Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa, Rupali Life Insurance, and Asiatic Laboratories and聽were the other turnover leaders.
