Stocks slipped into the red on Thursday after two positive sessions, as investors mostly followed cautious stance.
Market analysts said most of the investors maintained their cautious stance ahead of earnings disclosures.
The market in the very beginning opened higher, rising 15 points but failed to stay positive amid selling pressure.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 2.43 points or 0.04 per cent to finish at 5,130.
Two other indices also saw fractional loss. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 0.45 point to close at 1,829 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 0.74 point to settle at 1,176.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 3.95 billion, which was 28 per cent higher than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 3.09 billion.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 353 issues traded, 204 declined, 111 advanced and 38 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Fortune Shoes topped the turnover chart with 9.76 million shares worth Tk 388 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Sonar Bangla Insurance, Sea Pearl each and National Polymer.
A total number of 112,974 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 142.09 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also rose to Tk 3,822 billion on Thursday, from Tk 3,817 billion in the previous session.
Vanguard AML Rupali Bank Balanced Fund was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.89 cent while Pragatin Life Insurance was the worst loser, losing 10.86 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended slightly higher with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 5.82 points to settle at 15,724 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –shedding 1.12 points to finish at 9,558.
Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 150 issues closed lower, with 150 closed higher, 111 lower and 25 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 7.39 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 168 million in turnover.
