DSE indices, turnover fall

FE Report Dhaka stocks ended flat Sunday amid volatile trading throughout the session with turnover declined further, as the institutional investors remained in the sideline. The market insiders said the turnover remained low, as the institutions are busy with their year closing and liquidity crisis still prevails in the stock market. The market opened with a negative note and lost more than 15 points within five minutes. After that the market swung between positive and negative territories several times throughout the session and finally ended only 3.83 points lower. The benchmark General Index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DGEN) hit below the 5,000-point mark again, shedding 3.83 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 4,996.34. The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) went down by 4.68 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 4,164.03. The DSE-20 blue-chip index also declined 14.0 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 3,747.39. "Retail investors took a cautious posture, while the institutional investors remained in the sideline due to liquidity crisis and their year closing," commented a stock market. The market was generally dull during December due to year closing of most of the institutions, while liquidity crisis still prevails in the stock market, said a merchant banker. However, he is optimistic about stability of the market after December. After December, the institutional investors may become active in the market, while sponsorsdirectors of some companies have already started to buy shares to comply with the regulator's recent directive, he said. Another stock broker said it is the perfect time for the investors to invest in share market, as PE (price earnings) ratio in the market is very low (about 13). Meanwhile, two sponsorsdirectors of two companies expressed their willingness Sunday to buy shares of their respective companies at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days. Of them, Director of Kharnaphuli Insurance Sharmin Nasir expressed her willingness to buy 20,000 shares, while NCC Bank Director M Abul Bashar to buy 4,94,854 shares. Among the major sectors, bank advanced 0.36 per cent on the day. Telecommunications, NBFIs, fuel and power and pharmaceuticals declined 0.89 per cent, 0.44 per cent, 0.36 per cent and 0.32 per cent respectively. The gainers and losers were same on the day, as out of 254 issues traded, 118 advanced, 118 declined and 18 remained unchanged. Turnover value declined to Tk 2.10 billion against Tk 2.16 billion in the previous session, indicating that institutional investors are yet to be active in the market. A total of 45.50 million shares changed hands on the day against 46.37 million in the previous session. The trade deals also declined to 70,598 against Thursday's 76,977. Total market capitalisation of the DSE decreased to Tk 2,510.08 billion against Tk 2,513.86 billion in the previous session. Mercantile Bank topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 160.08 million changed hands. The other turnover leaders were Jamuna Oil, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Grameenphone, Standard Bank, United Airways, National Bank, Fu-Wang Ceramics, Beximco Limited and SIBL. Desh Garments was the day's top gainer posting a rise of 9.84 per cent. It was followed by BD Autocars, Rahim Textile, Rahima Foods, Kohinoor Chemicals, Pragati Life Insurance, Libra Infusion, Standard Ceramics, Jute Spinners and Gemini Sea Food. The day's worst losers included Rupali Insurance, Meghna Pet, Apex Spinning, Rekitt Benckiser, Janata Insurance, Midas Financing, Alltex Industries, AMCL (Pran), BSC and Fine Foods.