Dhaka stocks on Thursday witnessed an increase in price indices for the second consecutive session, as a section of investors chose to buy shares that were low priced due to the recent market fall, market operators said.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, increased by 34.61 points, or 0.68 per cent, to settle at 5,117.81 points on the day after losing 13.17 points in the previous trading session.
The market will remain closed from June 14 to June 18 on the occasion of weekly holidays and Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims.
The key index of the Dhaka bourse had lost a total of 167.29 points in three trading sessions before Wednesday, after the finance minister placed the national budget for the 2024-25 financial year on June 6.
The DSE posted its lowest in 42 months on Tuesday鈥檚 session, at 5,070.01 points.
With the increased activity of the investors hoping to book profits with the beaten down scrips on Thursday, the total turnover on the bourse rose to Tk聽423.14 crore compared with that of Tk 350.79 crore in the previous session, market operators said.
They said that the latest subdued market sentiment was due to investors being unhappy with the new budget measures related to the capital market.
The finance minister has proposed a capital gains tax on individual investors if their profits exceed Tk 50 lakh.
Many investors also pulled their money out of the market ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, which will be celebrated in the country on June 17, market operators said.
They also mentioned that the current negative mood on the market was also due to growing economic concerns, especially the ongoing decline in the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves.
Over the past 16 weeks, the market had advanced in just three.
Of the 396 issues traded on Thursday, 224 advanced, 113 declined and 59 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index increased by 7.13 points, or 0.64 per cent, to close at 1,108.05 points on Thursday.
The DS30 index gained 9.69 points, or 0.53 per cent, to finish at 1,821.88 points.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by the food and life insurance shares.
EBL Securities in its daily commentary said, 鈥楤uyers ended up on a slightly dominant side as a portion of investors sought to take positions in particular scrips that had undergone significant corrections. Moreover, prevailing rumours on probable withdrawal of the proposed imposition of capital gain taxes instilled some confidence among jittery investors.鈥�
Crystal Insurance topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk 22.89 crore changing hands.
Beach Hatchery, Alif Industries, Pragati Life Insurance, Rupali Life Insurance, Asiatic Laboratories, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa, Central Pharmaceuticals and eGeneration were the other turnover leaders.