Business Desk :
Stocks slipped into the red on Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as risk-averse investors opted for booking profits on quick-gaining stocks.
The market moved between positive and negative several times before closing marginally lower. However, turnover crossed Tk 10 billion-mark after three weeks.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 12.99 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 5,591, after gaining 116 points in the past three straight sessions.
The DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, also shed 2.57 points to finish at 2,165. However, the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) saw a fractional gain of 0.92 points to close at 1,266.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, exceeded Tk 10 billion-mark after three weeks to Tk 10.43 billion, climbing by 45 per cent over the previous day’s turnover of Tk 7.21 billion.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 358 issues traded, 157 declined, 80 advanced and 121 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco became the day’s most-traded stock, after a two-day break, with shares worth about Tk 1.42 billion changing hands, closely followed by Robi (Tk 1.29 billion), LafargeHolcim (Tk 812 million), Summit Power (Tk 690 million) and Beximco Pharma (Tk 392 million).
Debutant Lub-reef (Bangladesh) was the day’s top gainer, posting a gain of 50 per cent, the highest allowable limit on the first trading day.
Its share closed at Tk 40.50 each, a 50 per cent rise on the offer price of Tk 27 each. Green Delta Insurance was the worst loser, losing 11.30 per cent following its price adjustment after the record date. A total number of 179,867 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 244.18 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also rose to Tk 4,859 billion on Tuesday, up from Tk 4,838 billion in the previous session.
However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed marginally higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI -advancing 6.34 points to settle at 16,268 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX gaining 3.63 points to close at 9,812.
Of the issues traded, 96 declined, 83 advanced and 63 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 10.99 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 505 million.
