BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks ended almost flat on Sunday amid choppy trading as investors followed cautious stance ahead of national budget.
A section of investors preferred booking profit while some others were busy rebalancing portfolio, taking the market in the flat zone, according to market operators.
After witnessing volatility throughout the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,253, advancing 2.73 points or 0.05 per cent over the previous day.
Two other indices, however, closed in the red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 7.44 points to finish at 1,825 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 2.72 points to close at 1,190.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at BDT 3.28 billion, which was 2.82 per cent higher than the previous day's turnover of BDT 3.19 billion.
However, the risk-averse investors opted to book profit in food, textile, power and engineering sectors stocks, said the stockbroker.
Trading activities slightly increased as the investors took position on lucrative price levels on sector specific stocks.
A total number of 98,688 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 108.62 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE came down to BDT 3,848 billion on Sunday, from BDT 3,858 billion in the previous session.
Banking sector posted the highest gain of 1.12 per cent, followed by NBFIs 0.39 per cent and telecommunication 0.06 per cent.
Food, power, engineering and pharma sectors suffered losses, shedding 4.30 per cent, 0.73 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.25 per cent respectively.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 346 issues traded, 183 declined, 121 advanced and 42 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
BATBC topped the turnover chart with shares worth BDT 145 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Eastern Cables, Fortune Shoes, National Tubes and Doreen Power.
National Tubes was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.98 per cent while Phoenix Finance was the worst loser, losing 11.45 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
On the other hand, Chittagong Stock Exchange finished lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI shedding 41 points to settle at 15,999 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -losing 27 points to finish at 9,681.
The losers beat gainers, as 144 issues closed lower, 92 ended higher and 21 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 7.62 million shares and mutual fund units worth BDT 170 million in turnover.
BBN/SSR/AD