Stocks closed flat on Sunday after choppy trading as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence amid ongoing volatile market situation.
Market analysts said some investors collected sector-specific stocks considering favourable price level while some others rebalanced their portfolios ahead of earnings declaration, taking the market into flat zone.
The regulatory interventions such as confirming legal authorisation before placing of any sale order and the central bank's move to support the flagging market have halted the recent sharp decline, said a leading broker.
The market opened on a positive note on the day and the key index rose about 27 points within 10 minutes of trading. But selling pressure eroded the early gains as the session progressed.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,134, registering a fractional gain of 0.68 point.
Two other indices also edged up. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 3.35 points to finish at 1,839 and the DSES (Shariah) index gained 2.75 points to settle at 1,176.
EBL Securities said several investors remained watchful ahead of monetary policy statement announcement by the central bank, scheduled for July 31.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 4.06 billion, down 13 per cent from the previous day's turnover of Tk 4.68 billion.
Among the major sectors, food posted the highest gain of 2.04 per cent, followed by pharmaceuticals (0.50 per cent), power (0.18 per cent), and banking (0.09 per cent) while telecommunications closed flat.
The non-bank financial institutions and engineering lost 0.74 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 351 issues traded, 214 closed lower, 111 higher and 26 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.
A total number of 121,344 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume standing at 154.68 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market cap of the DSE increased slightly to Tk 3,847 billion on Sunday from Tk 3,844 billion in the previous day.
The United Power topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 214 million changing hands.
BD Autocars was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.98 per cent while Progressive Life Insurance was the day's worst loser, plunging 23.66 per cent following its corporate declaration.
The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also finished flat with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - advancing 3.02 points to settle at 15,716 while the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - fell 0.32 point to finish at 9,551.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 151 issues ended lower, 92 higher and 28 remained unchanged.
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