BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks witnessed another flat session on Monday after see-saw movement as investors followed cautious stance ahead of Eid festival.
Most of the investors continued trading cautiously as Eid festival near, market operators said, adding that only three trading sessions are left before nine-day Eid-ul-Fitr vacation.
The market went through a volatile trading session with a few ups and downs and finished the session flat.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), witnessed a fractional gain of 0.21 point to settle at 5,253.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, also advanced 2.92 points to finish at 1,828. However, the DSE Shariah Index shed 1.08 points to close at 1,189.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood BDT Tk 3.51 billion, which was 7.0 per cent higher than the previous day’s turnover of BDT 3.28 billion.
The investors’ activity was mostly focused on banking sector, accounting for 20 per cent, pharmaceuticals 12 per cent and engineering 11 per cent.
The non-bank financial institutions posted the highest gain of 0.83 per cent, followed by telecommunication with 0.75 per cent, power 0.53 per cent, banking 0.26 per cent.
Food and allied and engineering witnessed the highest loss of 0.53 per cent and followed by pharmaceuticals 0.32 per cent.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 347 issues traded, 175 declined, 107 advanced and 65 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 102,947 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 119.88 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE increased to BDT 3,853 billion on Monday, from BDT 3,848 billion in the previous session.
Square Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover chart with 823,118 shares worth nearly BDT 202 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were newly listed New Line Clothings, National Life Insurance, Eastern Cables and Uttara Bank.
National Life Insurance was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 8.72 per cent while Prime Finance was the worst loser, losing 9.34 per cent.
On the other hand, Chittagong Stock Exchange ended slightly higher with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –advancing 18 points to settle at 16,017 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –gaining 13 points to finish at 9,695.
The losers beat gainers, as 105 issues closed lower, 84 ended higher and 45 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 7.22 million shares and mutual fund units worth BDT 157 million in turnover.
BBN/SSR/AD