Stocks close flat amid choppy trading

Stocks closed flat in positive Thursday with turnover improved slightly amid volatile trading throughout the session as most investors remained watchful. The market opened with positive note, gaining 27 points within first 40 minutes of trade, but rest of the session it went down amid see-saw. At the end of the session, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) --- DSEX --- went up by 2.08 points or 0.04 per cent to close the session at 4,699.62 points after seeing volatility. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also closed positive with gaining 3.88 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 1,011.34 points. However, the DS30, comprising blue chips lost 3.32 points or 0.19 per cent to close at 1,690.12 points. The total turnover on DSE stood at Tk 4.12 billion, registering 16.38 per cent increase over the previous session’s value of Tk 3.54 billion. The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 293 issues traded, 132 declined, 124 advanced and 26 issues closed unchanged on the DSE floor. The market capitalization of the DSE stood at Tk 2,909.06 billion against Tk 2,900.18 billion in the previous session. Square Pharma dominated the top turnover chart with shares worth Tk 264.50 million changing hands followed by Square Textile, Lafarge Surma Cement, Meghna Petroleum and BSCCL. Rupali Life Insurance was also the day’s highest gainer; posting a rise of 9.44 per cent while Reliance Insurance was the day’s worst losers, slumping by 17.45 per cent following its price adjustment after record date. The port city bourse --- the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), however, closed down with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX -lost 24.36 points to close at 9,196.99 points. Losers beat gainers 128 to 64, with 27 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 7.03 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 324.97 million.