Stocks show recovery signs

Dhaka stocks showed signs of recovery from losses last week as the share prices slipped slightly in trade that bucked a back-to-back freefall for two weeks.

The market seemed to have found a resistance point and almost all the "fundamentally-driven stocks" came close to their reasonable prices, analysts said.

In the May-June period, the general index, DGEN, gained more than 20 percent. "As soon as the general index neared the 3,100 mark, the market started to fall," Equity Partners Limited (EPL), an investment firm, said in its weekly market analysis.

"The market experienced the price correction that was long expected," the EPL analysis said.

On Wednesday, the market gained more than 1.6 percent.

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSE General Index, fell 30.28 points, 1.05 percent, to 2,866.21. The DSE All Share Price declined by 23.99 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,403.67 on Thursday, the last trading day of the week.

Market insiders said the investors had moved cautiously on the back of the central bank's recent move on the commercial banks, which have investment in the market. All the banks have been asked to submit monthly reports on their stock portfolios to the central bank.

However, the Securities and Exchange Commission assured that the central bank would not take any measure that would leave a "negative impact" on the market.

Turnover was still low, compared to the recent transaction history.

Investors have started collecting funds by saving or selling their current holdings to invest in the upcoming initial public offerings (IPOs), which is one of the reasons for current low turnover as well as the small-scale profit-taking.

Islami Life Insurance, Dacca Dyeing, EBL 1st Mutual Fund, Marico, ICB AMCL 2nd Mutual Fund and Grameenphone are going to be introduced soon.

Both the total and daily turnover declined by 26.69 percent to Tk 2,161.62 crore and Tk 432.32 crore last week.

The losers beat the advancers 144 to 95. Three securities remained unchanged. A total of 13,78,86,977 shares traded on the premier bourse, marking a 22.6 percent fall.

Market capitalisation fell 0.7 percent to Tk 1,23,574.77 crore.

Beximco topped the turnover leaders with 54,98,900 shares worth Tk 170.77 crore being traded, which was 7.9 percent of total turnover. The other turnover leaders were Bextex, Titas Gas, AB Bank, Beximco Pharma, Desco, Summit Power, Grameen Mutual Fund One: Scheme Two, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund and LankaBangla Finance.

Chittagong stocks also declined slightly. The CSE Selective Categories Index slipped 0.23 percent to 6,308.14 points. The CSE All Share Price Index slid 0.04 percent to 10,070.06 points.

A total of 2,24,56,843 shares worth Tk 271.23 crore changed hands on the Chittagong Stock Exchange. Of the traded securities, 83 advanced, 88 declined and nine remained unchanged.

AB Bank topped the turnover leaders on the port city bourse with 3,31,160 shares worth Tk 32.93 crore being traded. Other turnover leaders were Bextex, Beximco, Beximco Pharma, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund, Grameen Mutual Fund One: Scheme Two, Titas Gas, Bangladesh Online, LankaBangla Finance and Islami Bank.