Retail investors are in despair as DSE witnesses volatility. BBN file photo

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh’s stocks finished flat on Tuesday after volatile trading as investors were active both sides of trading fence throughout the session.

Analysts said some investors preferred to book profit on stocks that saw substantial gain in recent upsurge while some took position on banking issues, taking the market in the flat zone.

After witnessing see-saw movement throughout the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 6,237, edging up by 0.64 point or 0.01 percent over the previous day.

Hoever, the two other indices closed in the red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips fell 3.40 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 2,214.

The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 5.10 points or 0.36 percent to close at 1,375.

Trading activities remained encouraging as total turnover on the DSE amounted to BDT 15.08 billion, which was 1.15 percent lower than the previous day’s eight months’ highest turnover of BDT 15.25 billion.

Block trade contributed BDT 736 million to the day’s total turnover where stocks like BATBC, Exim Bank, Grameenphone and IDLC Finance dominated the block trade board.

The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 330 issues traded, 230 closed lower, 70 closed higher and 30 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

The banks continued to dominate the turnover chart with National Bank topped the turnover chart for the second day in a row with about 56.25 million shares of BDT 867 million changing hands, closely followed by IFIC Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, IFAD Autos and Uttara Bank.

Uttara Bank was the day’s highest gainer, posting 8.01 percent rise, while Realinace One was the worst loser, losing by 6.67 percent.

The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), ended slightly lower with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – losing 5.32 points to settle at 11,714 points.

Losers beat gainers as 169 issues closed lower, 54 closed higher and 29 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city bourse traded 32.05 million shares and mutual fund units’ worth BDT 780 million in turnover.

BBN/SS/ANS