DSE sees cautious trading pattern of investors

The market ended flat Tuesday after straight five days of slump with turnover remained sluggish as investors observed the market movement closely.
The market was in declining mood in the first two hours which was recovered with the gains of cement, telecommunication and pharmaceutical sectors, eventually ended flat.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSEX) lost a negligible 0.25 points closing the session at 4,376.52 points.
However, the other two indices outperformed the benchmark index. The DS30, comprising blue chips gained 3.01 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 1,606.54 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) rose 2.14 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 994.14 points.
Turnover value on DSE improved to Tk 2.18 billion, registering an increase of 14.2 per cent over the previous session's 6-week low value of Tk 1.92 billion.
"After a hefty sell off in last few trading sessions, index is consolidating at the level of 4,370 to 4,400 points with improved turnover value," said LankaBangla Securities, in its regular market analysis.
"As stocks are being traded at a very low turnover value, market is assumed to exhaust the selling temper among the investors at this level," said the stock broker.
Among the major news, banks' credit growth continues to stutter despite the conclusion of political tension in January as banks exercise caution in lending to avoid bad loans, said the stock broker.
IDLC Investments said: "Riding on the back of large cap stocks, the bourse showcased cautious trading pattern of investors".
News of declined credit growth and increased investments in savings instruments left its sign in market, prompting investors' expectation on upcoming monetary policy statement (MPS), said merchant bank.
Market activities improved slightly over lucrative price hunts. Besides, debutant FAR Chemical added some participation in pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector, said the merchant bank.
"Taking the month of Ramadan into consideration, there is high chance for the market to move slowly for the upcoming days as well," said Zenith Investments.
The losers took a strong modest lead over the gainers as out of 289 issues traded, 135 declined, 105 advanced and 49 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Among the major sectors, telecommunication continued to go up with further 1.42 per cent gain. Banks and fuel and power gained slightly by 0.14 per cent and 0.12 per cent respectively.
Food and allied, pharmaceuticals and NBFIs closed lower by 1.01 per cent, 0.54 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively.
Activities mixed in the major bourse (DSE) where trade was up by 4.35 per cent while volume was down by 2.52 per cent. A total of 0.060 million trades were executed with 52.11 million securities of trading volume.
The market capitalization on the DSE stood at Tk 2,896.71 billion against Tk 2,889.38 billion in the previous session.
FAR Chemical Industries made its debut trading Tuesday. The newcomer was the most traded stock of the session with turnover of Tk 276.85 million followed by GP, Lafarge Surma Cement, Beximco and Olympic Industries.
It also topped the gainers chart as its market price appreciated by 426 per cent from its IPO price of Tk 10 and closed at Tk 52.6 while Savar Refractories was the day's worst loser, slumping by 5.42 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended flat with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost slightly by 6.28 points to close at 8,338.89 points.
Losers beat gainers 119, 47, with 34 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 6.71 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 233.07 million.