Bourses to reopen with last week’s gains 

The market ended another dull week on Thursday as investors remained on the sidelines monitoring economic uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

The investors were also waiting for the announcement of the FY2020-21 budget before making any further investment decisions.

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, gained 14 points – or 0.4 percent – during the week to close at 3,967.3. 

CASPI, the benchmark index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange, gained 30 points – or 0.3 percent – over the week to close at 11,267.

According to the Weekly Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd, the market remained inactive last week as investors were concerned about the floor prices mechanism. 

However, some investors remain worried as the country has been witnessing a record surge in novel coronavirus cases and deaths – they are also concerned about the virus' long-term impact on the country's economy as well as earnings of the listed stocks, the review further added.

The market witnessed four positive sessions and one negative session during the week. 

Trading remained low during the week, and the average turnover stood at Tk70.9 crore – down 45 percent from the previous week's Tk138.4 crore.

In weekly average turnover distribution, the pharmaceuticals sector contributed the highest – 47.1 percent – to turnover, followed by the fuel and power sector which added 10.9 percent and the banking sector which added 10.7 percent. 

On the weekly sector return board, the pharmaceuticals plus fuel and power sectors posted the highest price appreciation of 0.5 percent each. The cement, ceramic and jute sectors each witnessed the highest price correction of 0.1 percent during the week. 

Among the other large-cap sectors, textiles stocks gained 0.1 percent– while the telecom and banking stocks remained flat on the weekly sector return board. 

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd was the most-traded stock of the week with a closing price of Tk66.3 per share. Its weekly turnover was Tk32.8 crore, according to the DSE website.

Beximco Synthetics Ltd topped the weekly gainers' table by gaining 20.4 percent, closing at Tk5.9 per share. Dulamia Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd, on the other hand, was the week's worst loser as it lost 4.6 percent and closed at Tk48.1 per share.