Stocks ended almost flat on Wednesday, the penultimate trading day of the week, after volatile trading as investors mostly followed cautious stance amid prevailing bearish market trend.
Market analysts said a section of investors became active in the market for taking fresh position in sector-specific stocks considering favourable price level while some were busy rebalancing portfolio ahead of earnings declarations, taking the market in the flat zone.
After witnessing volatility throughout the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,077, shedding 0.46 point over the previous day.
Meanwhile, the DSE on Wednesday asked stock dealers, stock brokers and authorised representatives to strictly follow the code of conduct as enumerated in the second schedule to the securities and exchange commission (Stock Dealer, Stock Broker and Authorized Representative) Rules, 2000.
The DSE also requested the all stock brokers for ensuring legal authorisation regarding placing any sale order, which also halt the sale pressure, brokers said.
Meanwhile, the prime index of the major bourse soared 111 points or 2.24 per cent on Tuesday, the biggest single-day gain in six months following the regulatory intervention.
The DSES (Shariah) index also fell 3.90 points to settle at 1,160. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.07 points to finish at 1,816.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, rose to Tk 3.80 billion, which was 20 per cent higher than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 3.17 billion.
A total number of 116,107 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 167.72 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE increased to Tk 3,794 billion on Wednesday, from Tk 3,792 billion in the previous day.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 353 issues traded, 178 closed lower, 146 higher and 32 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Square Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 146 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, United Power, Fortune Shoes and Beacon Pharma.
ICB Third NRB Mutual Fund was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.83 per cent while Heidelberg Cement was the day’s worst loser, shedding 8.60 per cent following the news of its negative EPS in April-June period.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange ended slightly higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – advancing 6.70 points to settle at 15,520 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –gaining 4.93 points to finish at 9,439.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 134 issues ended lower, 126 higher and 15 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse traded 7.83 million shares and mutual fund units worth nearly Tk 167 million in turnover.
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