DSE turnover hits 4-month low

Dhaka stocks witnessed a sharp decline for the second straight session on Sunday as investors’ presence decreased significantly, while cautious stayed on the sidelines owing to the prevailing market volatility.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), plunged 14.0 points to settle at a 1.5 month-low of 6,316.

Meanwhile, amid the sluggish trading activity, the market turnover dropped to a nearly 4 month-low yesterday.

The Dhaka bourse’s turnover stood at Tk 418 crore, down 14.0 per cent that the tally of Tk 486 crore logged in the previous trading session.

Block trades accounted for Tk 39 crore or 9.4 per cent of the total market turnover.

The food and allied sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 17.1 per cent of the total turnover of the DSE, followed by general insurance (16.6 per cent) and textile (10.8 per cent).

Fu Wang Food Ltd was the most traded stock with Tk 14 crore worth of its shares changing hands, followed by JMI Hospital Requisite Manufacturing Limited, and Legacy Footwear Ltd.

Investors’ appetite for taking bets in equities remained subdued amid concerns regarding the market outlook owing to the rising political tensions in the country, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

Almost all the sectors displayed dismal returns, with the IT facing the highest correction of 1.5 per cent, followed by cement (1.3 per cent) and services (0.9 per cent), while the tannery posted the highest gain of 0.7 per cent, followed by general insurance (0.4 per cent), according to EBL Securities.

As per the daily market review of Brac-epl Stock Brokerage, most large-cap sectors posted negative performance, with the food and allied experiencing the highest loss of 0.25 per cent, followed by pharmaceutical (0.13 per cent), engineering (0.11 per cent), fuel and power (0.09 per cent), and NBFI (0.03 per cent).

Alif Industries Limited rose 5.5 per cent to become the day’s top gainer, while CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund fell 9.8 per cent becoming the top loser.

Out of the securities traded, 39 advanced, 132 declined and 221 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on red terrain, with its two major indices – the selected indices (CSCX), and the all-share price index (CASPI) – declining by 14.5 points and 24.6 points respectively.