Stocks end flat after 6-day rally, Dominage up 190%

Dhaka stocks ended a quiet session on Tuesday, essentially unchanged, as investors found few reasons to keep buying following a six-day rally in the indices.

The benchmark DSEX index edged over 3 points or 0.07% down to settle at 5,049 on Tuesday, pulling back from its sixth straight session rally.

The index was in green briefly in the morning but slipped in red for profit-booking on some issues before recovering most points lost in the first session.

On the other hand, the DSES index lost only 1 point or 0.1% to 1,158. The DS30 index finished almost 3 points or 0.2% down to 1,760.

The market paused to take a breath after gaining over the weeks as investors tracked stimulus packages taken by the government to weather pandemic fallout and rolling out coronavirus vaccines, according to brokers.

Bangladesh plans to buy a dose of Covishield vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute of India. Britain began vaccinating its population, as Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother, on Tuesday became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine shot outside of a trial.

However, the investor participation in trading declined 17% to Tk718 crore from Tk848 crore recorded in the previous session.

Beximco Ltd — the flagship company of Beximco Group — continued to lead the turnover list with shares worth about Tk41 crore changed hands. It was followed by Republic Insurance, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Rupali Insurance, IFIC Bank, SS Steel, and Associated Oxygen Limited.

Dominage Steel Building Systems kept climbing as its share prices increased by 190% in five trading days despite its declining earnings.

It surged 9.96% to over Tk29.80 a share, making it the top gainer in the day. The prefabricated steel structured building maker jumped 50% from the offer value of Tk10 a share on its debut day.

After remaining under pressure for a long, Maksons Spinning Mills Ltd moved up to Tk7.3 a share from Tk 6.9 following the Maksons Group — the textile miller — plans to set up three industrial units for $111 million. Its share prices went down below its face value for about three years.