Bourses welcome new FY on a pessimistic note

Stocks ended lower on Sunday, the first trading day of the new fiscal year (FY) 2022-23, as investors were selling shares amid persistent volatility.
The market ended over 17 points lower after four-day gain.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 17.16 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 6,359, after gaining 76 points in the past four days.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, dropped sharply and amounted to Tk 6.55 billion, which was 30 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 9.38 billion.
Market operators said the profit-booking among investors made the market volatile while some were reluctant to put fresh funds ahead of the Eid festival.
The retail investors sold shares to pull out money ahead of Eid festival as only four trading days are left before Eid vacation, said a merchant banker.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) declared a relatively contractionary monetary policy and investors have continued their cautious stance amidst ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, said EBL Securities.
Grameenphone (GP) shares declined 1.97 per cent further to close at Tk 288.30 on Sunday.
However, Robi shares jumped 9.96 per cent to close at Tk 33.10 on Sunday as investors expected good business prospects ahead after the telecom regulator banned GP from selling new SIMs.
"The short term profit-booking tendency of cautious investors cut down the price of the broad index," said International Leasing Securities.
The central bank increased the repo rate by 50 basis points that may adversely impact the money flow to the capital market, said the stockbroker.
Two other indices also finished lower. The DS30 Index, comprising blue chips, lost 4.37 points to finish at 2,291 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) fell 2.03 points to close at 1,384.
Most of the sectors saw price fall with banking losing 0.80 per cent despite the news that most private commercial banks posted higher operating profit growth.
Engineering, pharma, financial institutions and power sectors also lost 0.80 per cent, 0.70 per cent, 0.30 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, the telecom sector gained 1.50 per cent riding on Robi which surged 9.96 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 382 issues traded, 219 declined, 120 advanced and 43 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Intraco Refueling Station was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 363 million changing hands, closely followed by Sonali Paper (Tk 344 million), Beximco (Tk 276 million), IPDC Finance (Tk 201 million) and Robi (Tk 188 million).
Robi was the top gainer, posting a 9.96 per cent gain while Fu-Wang Food was the day's worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 29 points to settle at 18,698 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -shedding 18 points to close at 11,208.
Of the issues traded, 133 declined, 100 advanced and 41 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 6.75 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth nearly Tk 174 million.

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