Stocks close in green after three losing sessions

Stocks returned to positive territory on Monday after three consecutive sell-off sessions. 

The market got bargain hunters active - following the regulator's efforts to inspire institutional buyers and a press statement declining any possibility of trading closure in case of the shutdown should the coronavirus bites more. 

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), was going down during the beginning of Monday's trade, but bounced back in half an hour and ended the session with a steady intraday rise. 

EBL Securities wrote to its clients, "In the first hour, the market lost 60 points. However, as the time passed, investors engaged in buying stocks they deemed lucrative which ultimately put the index in the green territory." 

"A BSEC press release on the continuation of the trading activity if the banks remain open regardless of Covid-19 has also strengthened investors' confidence," said EBL analysts. 

However, the 1.17% gain over the session was not enough to recover 1.56% which the DSEX had lost on Sunday. 

Investors seemed to prefer reliable stocks as blue-chip index DS30 increased by 1.6%. 

Meanwhile, turnover at the premier bourse increased by 12.5% to Tk693 crore on Monday. Thanks to the debut of NRB Commercial Bank which attracted market participation as a new scrip. 

The fourth generation commercial bank's shares closed 32% higher than its issue price of Tk10 each. 

Still, investors remained worried as the number of deaths and infection rates from Covid-19 stayed on an upward trend, according to stockbrokers.  

Most of the sectors observed winning performance, in contrast to their recent losing trend. 

Food and allied sector's market capitalisation increased by 4.8%, followed by services at 3.8% and engineering at 2.8%. 

Out of the 352 issues traded, 188 advanced, 56 declined, and 108 remained unchanged. 

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended the day in the green territory. CSCX, the broad-based index at the port-city bourse, increased by 1.2%. 

Turnover at the CSE increased by 29%.