Heavyweight stocks hold up the indices
DSEX closed at 7,331 on Tuesday, slightly higher by 3.8 points from the previous close
Tuesday's volatile trading ended with stock indices closing marginally higher – although the majority of scrips declined.
Heavyweight stocks, such as Beximco, LafargeHolcim, and Orion Pharmaceuticals saved the day with their gains offsetting the decline in small and mid-cap stocks over the session.
Price movement in large-cap stocks impacts market indices more than smaller-cap stocks.
The day began with a continuation of Monday's selling spree. The DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), nosedived below 7,280 points by 10.30am resulting in about a 1% intraday drop.
Within 150 minutes, the index recovered to the intraday peak as the blue-chip and some large-cap stocks attracted more buyers.
DSEX finally closed at 7,331 on Tuesday, slightly higher by 3.8 points from the previous close.
Investors also gaineds some confidence learning about the National Board of Revenue's recent rise in tax revenues, reflecting a revival of economic activity following the Covid-19 fallout, said stockbrokers.
Portfolio restructuring seems to be continuing, said EBL Securities Research, referring to the ongoing investment tendency to swap shares within an investment portfolio based on anticipated earnings to be announced in the coming days.
Amid the volatility, investor participation in trading dropped more than 14% at the DSE and daily turnover came down to Tk2,352 crore from Tk2,355 crore.
The pharmaceuticals sector contributed a maximum of 19.72% to the day's turnover at the DSE. The engineering and cement sectors followed with 12% and 10% turnover contributions, respectively.
Most sectors showed a dismal performance. Cement, tannery, and miscellaneous sectors expanded their market capitalisation by 5.6%, 1%, and 0.9%, respectively.
Services, financial institutions, ceramics, travel-leisure, and the pharmaceutical sector gained as well.
Paper, jute, and the energy sector suffered the most contraction in their market capitalisation.
Of the 376 issues traded on the DSE, 75 advanced, 269 declined, and 32 remained unchanged.
In a separate development, broad indices at the Chittagong Stock Exchange were slightly down over the same session.
Turnover at the port city bourse fell below Tk90 crore from Monday's Tk115 crore.