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Stocks inched down on Monday after volatile trading as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence throughout the session.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 1.91 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 5,092, after hitting more than a year high in the previous day.
Market operators said the risk-averse investors preferred to book quick-gain following the recent price upsurge while optimistic investors continued their buying binge riding on regulatory moves, taking the index almost flat territory.
The market passed a volatile session as investors oscillated between optimism and profit booking stance throughout the session, said a merchant banker.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 11.48 billion on the country’s prime bourse, which was 13.6 per cent lower than the previous day’s four-week high turnover of Tk 13.29 billion.
Two other indices also saw fractional losses. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 0.88 point to finish at 1,756 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 0.24 point to close at 1,170.
Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 356 issues traded, 175 closed lower, 143 ended higher while 38 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 223,433 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 425.38 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap on the premier bourse, however, rose to Tk 3,852 billion on Monday, from Tk 3,846 billion in the previous session.
The pharmaceuticals sector continued to dominate the turnover chart with Beximco Pharma topped the chart with shares worth Tk 505 million changing hands, followed by Beximco, Brac Bank, Orion Infusion and Khulna Power.
Tosrifa Industries was the best performer, posting a gain of 9.91 per cent while Fareast Finance was the worst loser, losing 9.61 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also edged down with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 4.53 points to close at 14,523 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 4.83 points to close at 8,727.
Of the issues traded, 114 gained, 124 declined and 34 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 18.95 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 390 million.