Stocks close flat,turnover up

Stocks closed flat into the red on Wednesday after three sessions’ correction with turnover improved slightly as investors went for last minutes buying spree on large cap stocks. Wednesday was the last trading day of the week as tomorrow (Thursday) is a public holiday on account of May Day. The market started with a negative note and the downward trend continued almost throughout the session. But last 30 minutes buying spree sent the market in flat. Eventually, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 4,566.85 points, shedding only 0.18 points. However, the other two indices managed to close positive. The DS30, comprising blue chips gained 3.01 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 1,671.92 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also gained 5.85 points or 0.57 per cent to close at 1,018.20 points. The total turnover value on DSE rose to Tk 4.36 billion, registering an increase of 12.66 per cent over the previous session’s value of Tk 3.87 billion. The gainers and losers almost same as out of 291 issues traded, 131 gained 133 declined and 27 issues closed unchanged on the DSE floor. Renata became the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 290.48 million changing hands followed by GP, Meghna Petroleum, ACI and Square Pharma. ACI Limited was the day’s highest gainer; posting a rise of 21.57 per cent following its hefty dividend declaration while Shine Pukur Ceramic was the day’s worst losers, slumping by 33.33 per cent following its no dividend declaration on the day. The port city bourse - Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed lower with its Selective Categories Index --- CSCX lost 14.60 points to stand at 8,780.42 points. Losers beat gainers 115 to 77, with 22 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 9.54 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 329.95 million.