Stocks returned to the red amid choppy trading Thursday, as investors were mostly on selling spree ahead of dividend declarations.
Following the previous two days’ positive trend, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) opened on negative note amid low trading activities.
Within first 30 minutes of trading, the key index of the country’s prime bourse fell nearly 12 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) of port city’s bourse lost 48 points at 11:00am.
The downward trend continued till end of the session amid modest volatility, finally DSEX shed 52 points while CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) fell 162 points at closing.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 52.10 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at 6,050 over the previous day.
The two other indices closed lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 19.60 points to close at 2,231. The DSE Shariah Index ended 5.18 points lower to settle at 1,405.
Of 339 issues traded, 221 closed lower, 76 higher and 39 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Unique Hotel & Resorts topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 276 million changing hands, closely followed by Grameephone, Monno Ceramic Industries, Brac Bank, and Square Pharmaceuticals.
Republic Insurance Company was the day’s highest gainer, posting a gain of 6.62 per cent while Meghna Pet Industries was the worst loser, losing 9.25 per cent.
The port city bourse also returned to the red with CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI- shedding 162 points to settle at 18,716 and Selective Categories Index - CSCX – losing 96 points to finish at 11,292.
The losers beat the gainers as 168 issues closed lower, 58 ended higher and 18 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The CSE traded 10.21 million shares and mutual fund units worth nearly Tk 277 million in turnover.
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