Stocks finished slightly lower on Thursday after volatile trading as investors mostly cautiously amid ongoing quarterly earnings declarations.
After witnessing high volatility, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 4.89 points to settle at 7,027, after ending flat in the previous day.
Two other indices also edged lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 9.82 points to finish at 2,602 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 4.08 points to close at 1,499.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 12.19 billion, which was 9.32 per cent higher than the previous day’s tally of Tk 11.15 billion.
Market analysts said the market witnessed volatility as many investors traded cautiously amidst the rising trend of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Many investors are also rebalancing their portfolios based on quarterly earnings decoration, they said.
Of the 381 issues traded, 184 declined, 142 advanced and 55 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.
A total number of 212,127 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 261.06 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE dropped slightly to Tk 5,629 billion on Thursday, down from Tk 5,632 billion in the previous session.
Beximco, which gained 0.39 per cent, was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 611 million changing hands, closely followed by Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 610 million), Queen South Textile Mills (Tk 508 million), Malek Spinning Mills (Tk 354 million) and RAK Ceramic (Tk 338 million).
Bangladesh Building Systems was the day’s top gainer, posting a 10 per cent while Premier Cement was the worst loser, losing 7.13 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 11 points to settle at 20,586 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX—shedding 5.58 points to close at 12,366.
Of the issues traded, 147 declined, 122 advanced and 43 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 17.88 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 480 million.