Stocks end flat but turnover rises 13%

Stock market in Bangladesh experienced a slight downturn yesterday, following two consecutive days of gains last week.

Cautious investors traded lucrative shares, particularly blue-chip ones, amid ongoing price fluctuations. A blue chip is a well-established and financially sound company that is publicly traded.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell by 0.30 points, or 0.01 percent, from that at the end of last week to close at 5,734.

The DSES index, which tracks Shariah-compliant companies, underwent an uptick of 5.66 points, or 0.45 percent, before ending at 1,263.

In the blue-chip segment, the DS30 index declined by 11.64 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 2,094.

At Chittagong Stock Exchange, the CASPI index decreased by 3.02 points, or 0.02 percent, to settle at 16,188.

Trading activity at the DSE reflected a mixed sentiment. Of the 398 stocks that underwent trade, 109 advanced, 233 closed lower and 56 remained unchanged.

The day's turnover—indicative of the total value of shares traded on the premier bourse—stood at Tk 675 crore, representing a 13.61 percent increase compared to the previous trading session.

Notably, block trades, which involve high-volume transactions privately negotiated outside the open market, accounted for 7.3 percent of the overall turnover.

Agni Systems Limited emerged as the most-traded stock, with a turnover of Tk 33.8 crore.

Sector-wise, banking, textile and mutual funds ended in the positive while paper and printing, jute and life insurance suffered the largest declines, according to the daily market update from UCB Stock Brokerage.

The banking sector led the turnover chart, contributing 13.98 percent of the total.

In its daily report, BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage noted that most sectors that account for large amounts in market capitalisation, which is the total value of a company's outstanding shares, experienced a negative performance.

Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) suffered the most significant loss of 1.46 percent, followed by engineering (1.24 percent), fuel and power (1.22 percent), telecommunications (1.14 percent), pharmaceuticals (1.02 percent) and food and allied (0.93 percent).

Banking was the sole sector on a positive trajectory, gaining 1.44 percent.

Islami Bank Bangladesh, BRAC Bank, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, City Bank, Heidelberg Materials Bangladesh, Genex Infosys, Orion Infusion, Mercantile Bank, United Commercial Bank, and Islamic Finance & Investment drew considerable investor interest, as per LankaBangla Financial Portal.

Islami Bank Bangladesh stood out with a share price increase of 23.18 percent.

However, several major companies faced setbacks.

They include Square Pharmaceuticals, Olympic Industries, Renata, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Grameenphone, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, MJL Bangladesh and Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills.