Stocks edged down for the second straight sessions Thursday after high volatility as the risk-averse investors preferred to book profit on quick-gaining issues.
The market moved between positive and negative several times before closing marginally lower as the shaky investors tried to book profits on quick-gaining stocks.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 11.23 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 6,760.
Market operators said some investors were active on sector-wise stocks in the early trading while some sold shares later in the session, taking the market into red territory.
Two other indices also edged lower with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 3.28 points to settle at 2,423 and the DSE Shariah Index dropped 4.92 points to close at 1,461.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, also dropped to Tk 22.18 billion, which was 10 per cent lower than the previous day’s tally of Tk 24.65 billion.
A total number of 307,388 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 697.84 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 5,497 billion on Thursday, down from Tk 5,505 billion in the previous session.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 376 issues traded, 191 closed lower, 156 ended higher and 29 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group-continued top the turnover list with shares worth Tk 1.55 billion changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were LafargeHolcim Bangladesh (Tk 791 million), LankaBangla Finance (Tk 746 million), IFIC Bank (Tk 684 million) and City General Insurance (Tk 413 million).
Recently listed South Bangla Agriculture & Commerce Bank was the best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while National Housing Finance & Investment was the worst loser, losing 4.86 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended marginally lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—shedding 39 points to finish at 19,707 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX losing 23 points to close at 11,817.
Of the issues traded, 171 declined, 124 advanced and 26 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 35.52 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 890 million.
