Stocks ended almost flat on Thursday, after remaining higher in the previous two days, as late hours selling pressure wiped out the early gains.
The market opened on a positive note and the key index gained more than 40 points within the first hour of trading. But the rest of the session eroded almost all the initial gains.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 1.01 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 6,052. DSEX added 38 points in the three consecutive sessions.
Two other indices also edged higher with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, advanced 13.79 points to finish at 2,197 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 2.26 points to close at 1,290.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, fell to Tk 18.47 billion, which was 12.42 per cent lower than the previous day’s tally of Tk 21.09 billion.
Market operators said some well-performing stocks saved the market from falling further at the end of the day as DSE30 index outperformed the benchmark index.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers, as out of 372 issues traded, 237 declined, 107 advanced and 28 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 2.14 billion changing hands, followed by National Feed Mills (Tk 503 million), Pioneer Insurance (Tk 500 million), Orion Pharma (354 million) and National Polymer (Tk 326 million).
Safko Spinning Mills was the day’s top gainer, posting a 9.69 per cent gain while Index Agro Industries was the worst loser, losing 9.04 per cent.
A total number of 269,745 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 485.10 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE dropped slightly to Tk 5,081 billion on Thursday, down from Tk 5,083 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 40 points to settle at 17,570 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX rising 25 points to close at 10,576.
Of the issues traded, 191 advanced, 83 declined and 34 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 24.98 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 1.05 billion.
