Stocks bounce back from one losing session

Stock indices at the bourses of Dhaka and Chattogram have bounced back on Tuesday after absorbing the selloff that started in the previous session.

Thanks to the price appreciation of some large-cap issues that was a result of investors' positive reaction to the recent corporate earnings disclosures.

DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), closed 0.13% higher at 6,270. Shariah index DSES gained 0.58% to close at 1,368, and blue-chip index DS30 was up by 0.17% to close at 2,206.

According to the daily market commentary of EBL Securities, the market witnessed volatility as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence.

"Cautious investors continued to offload shares that failed to break out of their dismal financial performance, while the opportunist ones continued their chase for sector-specific issues that showed improved financial results," it added.

For instance, biscuit market leader Olympic Industries shares bounced back due to a growth in its earnings per share for the January-March period.

Stockbrokers said as the majority of the listed companies reported year-on-year earnings deterioration, cautious investors initially reacted with some selloff. However, the companies that managed to retain profitability, or at least improved to a moderate extent compared to the previous quarters, later attracted investors.

A number of small-cap scrips, having suffered a sharp selloff in the previous session, rebounded on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka bourse observed an increase in participation as total turnover rose by 22.9% to Tk852 crore.

On the sectoral front, food and allied, IT and pharmaceuticals were the top turnover contributors at the DSE.

Most of the sectors displayed positive returns, out of which, IT, cement, and jute led the winning table with 3.4%, 2.5% and 1.9% gains respectively.

Travel and leisure, services and fuel-power sectors led the losers with 2.3%, 0.4% and 0.1% declines in that order.

Out of all the scrips, 88 advanced, and 50 declined in the DSE. 259 of the 400 DSE scrips were stuck on the floor prices.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange's broad-based index CSCS was 0.1% up to 11,065 on Tuesday, while turnover in the port city bourse increased by 20% to Tk8 crore.