Stocks stay afloat with rising turnover
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Stocks extended the gaining streak for the fourth straight session on Sunday as investors chased some blue-chip shares along with sector-specific small-cap stocks.Blue chip stocks Square Pharma, which took off from the floor price after eight months on Thursday, gained 0.81 per cent further and closed at Tk 212.10.Another blue chip, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, soared 5.94 per cent to close at Tk 41 on Sunday.Besides, some low-cap stocks such as National Feed Mills, Aziz Pipes, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, Western Marine Shipyard and some insurance shares dominated the gainers’ list.The market opened on a positive and the upward trend continued till the end of the session with sign of reversal, ultimately ending more than 26 points.DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, finally went up by 26.32 points and settled at 6,367. The DSEX added more than 42 points in the four trading days.The DS30 Index, which consists of blue-chip companies, gained 5.86 points to 2,202 and the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, rose 7.88 points to 1,387.The daily trade turnover on the DSE also soared 24 per cent to Tk 9.34 billion as some investors opted to seize quick gain opportunities in sector-specific shares.Fu-Wang Food, a small-cap company, continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 681 million changing hands.Of the 130 issues traded, 130 closed higher, 61 lower and 192 issues remained unchanged.The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 59 points to settle at 18,790.The port city’s bourse traded 8.22 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth Tk 196 million.