Majority stocks stuck at floor prices amid declining indices

Stocks in Bangladesh extended the sluggish momentum for the second trading session on Sunday since the investors were yet to be confident because the market was centered on a handful of stocks only while a majority of scrips were stuck at their floor prices.

The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dropped 15.78 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at 6,478 against 6,494 points in the previous trading session.

Among other indices, the DSES, the Shariah-based index, lost 1.52 points or 0.1 per cent to 1,418, and the DS30, the blue-chip index, shed 8.27 points or 0.40 per cent to 2,298.

Turnover, another crucial market indicator, declined by 4.8 per cent to Tk 1343.1 crore versus the tally of Tk 1410.9 crore in the previous session.

The market started positive and continued the momentum until the first hour of the session, but a subsequent downtrend due to the price corrections on major scrips, particularly some large-cap stocks pushed the indices down, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

Investors remained watchful ahead of the upcoming earnings declarations, induced by the ongoing macroeconomic pressure in the country. Moreover, the start of subscription to the year’s largest IPO slightly crunched the market turnover, commented EBL Securities.

On the sectoral front, pharma and chemical topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 18.8 per cent to the total turnover, followed by engineering (16.4 per cent) and miscellaneous (13.1 per cent) sectors.

Most of the sectors displayed mixed returns on the Dhaka bourse.

Of them, the paper sector posted the highest return of 5.5 per cent, followed by jute (5 per cent) and services (2.2 per cent).

On the other hand, the travel sector suffered the most with a loss of 3.6 per cent, followed by cement (2.8 per cent) and ceramic (1.6 per cent).

Out of the 387 issues traded, 83 stocks advanced, 127 scrips declined, and 177 issues did not see any price movement.

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also settled closed lower with its two major indices — the CSCX and the CASPI — declining by 29.9 points and 51.1 points respectively.