Stocks gave up early gains and closed almost flat on Tuesday after volatile trading as investors mostly followed cautious stance.
Market insiders said the investors followed ‘wait-and-see’ approach ahead of securities regulator’s Silver Jubilee programee scheduled to be started tomorrow (Wednesday).
The bourses opened on positive note and the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) gaining about 27 points at 12:50pm. But rest of the session eroded almost all the early gains.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 3.82 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 5,543, after losing two consecutive sesions.
However, two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 2.63 points to finish at 1,938 and the DSE Shariah Index saw a fractional loss of 0.56 point to close at 1,271.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, dipped below Tk 8.0 billion-mark to Tk 7.14 billion, which was 26 per cent lower than the previous session’s Tk 9.65 billion.
Of the 335 issues traded, 152 declined, 131 advanced and 52 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 132,663 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 164.67 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 3,953 billion on the day which was Tk 3,951 billion in the previous session.
Khulna Power Company topped the turnover chart again with 5.78 million shares worth Tk 608 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Active Fine Chemicals, BBS Cables, IFAD Autos and Confidence Cement.
National Life Insurance was the best performer for the second day in a row, posting a gain of 10 per cent while IFIL Islamic Mutual Fund-1 was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent.
However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) edged lower with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – losing 1.78 points to settle at 17,095 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –shedding 1.39 points to finish at 10,361.
The losers beat gainers as 128 issues closed lower, 82 ended higher and 30 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 9.92 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 448 million in turnover.
babulfexpress@gmail.com