Stocks continue to swing, turnover steady

Dhaka stocks failed to sustain the upbeat momentum as the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the premier bourse, plunged Wednesday, just a day after the market witnessed stocks rallying.

Stocks, according to analysts, were fluctuating because of uncertainty regarding the market outlook owing to fears over the dismal earnings forecasts of the listed companies.

Besides, the government yesterday hiked gas prices for power, industries, and commercial (hotel and restaurant) sectors up to 179 per cent which battered investors’ growing confidence regarding the recent signs of the ease of the country’s macroeconomic pressures.

The DSEX, the key index of the DSE, fell 23.6 points to settle at 6,258 against 6,282 points in the previous trading session.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, lost 4.83 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 2,210, and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, suffered 4.15 points or 0.30 per cent to 1,367.

The prime bourse witnessed a slight increase in participation with the DSE turnover rising by 3.8 per cent to Tk 934 crore against Tk 900 crore in the previous session.

The market remained flat in the first hour of the session, but subsequent choppy trading from cautious investors due to concerns over the major hike in fuel and energy prices for industrial and commercial sectors caused the core index to tumble, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

Moreover, investors were looking for rebalancing their portfolio to keep up with the trend of the current market momentum, playing role to send down the market indices.

The IT sector topped the DSE turnover chart with a contribution of 17.1 per cent to the total turnover of the prime bourse, followed by the life insurance (13.4 per cent) and the pharma (12.8 per cent).

Most of the sectors displayed dismal returns with the travel faced the highest correction of 3.8 per cent, followed by services (3.7 per cent) and paper (3.2 per cent).

On the other hand, the life insurance posted the highest gain of 0.4 per cent, followed by ceramic (0.3 per cent) and tannery (0.3 per cent).

Out of the 391 issues traded, 49 securities advanced, 138 stocks declined, and 204 scrips did not see any price movement on the DSE trading floor.