Dhaka stocks soar ahead of polls

Staff Correspondent

Dhaka stocks soared Sunday due to a buying spree of investors ahead of today�s national polls.
Trading at the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses will remain closed today due to the 9th parliamentary elections.
The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 98.46 points, or 3.74 per cent, to close at 2728.60, while its blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 95.57 points, or 4.35 per cent, to finish at 2291.72.
�The enthusiasm of investors is high ahead of the general elections,� said Mahmood Osman Imam, chairman of the finance department of Dhaka University.
He said institutional and retail investors increased their buying availing themselves of the lower prices of the securities after a two-and-a-half-month lull, expecting a healthy return in days to come. �The market got back pace in the last week as the investors bought shares, thinking that uncertainty centring the national polls is over,� said Imam.
A DSE stockbroker said the institutional investors, who already had completed their year-end loan adjustments, also started to inject funds into the market, signalling a recoup.
Of the total 231 issues traded, 203 advanced, 19 declined and nine remained unchanged.
Turnover at the DSE slightly decreased to Tk 290.18 crore from the Wednesday�s Tk 293.34 crore.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover leaders with a total transaction of Tk 28.69 crore. Summit Power was the second biggest turnover leader with Tk 17.23 crore.
Titas Gas, National Bank, Grameen Two Mutual Fund, ACI, Beximco, Shinepukur Ceramics, Uttara Bank, and ACI Formulations were the rest of the day�s top ten turnover leaders.
The day also saw a significant rise in share prices at the Chittagong Stock Exchange.
The CSE selective categories index gained 179.85 points, or 3.36 per cent, to close at 5539.42, while its blue chips index, CSE30, advanced by 280.35 points, or 3.92 per cent, to finish at 7434.25.
Of the total 142 issues traded on the CSE floor, 132 posted gains, eight dropped and two remained unchanged.
Turnover at the CSE went up to Tk 51.90 crore from the Wednesday�s Tk 45.70 crore.