Stocks down amid thin trading

The stock market ended lower for the second running sessions Thursday amid thin participation as ongoing volatility and apparent lack of directions kept investors watchful. The market opened with positive note, but could not sustain, eventually landed into the red. At the end of the session, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSEX) ended at 4,635.33 points, shedding 25.18 points or 0.54 per cent from previous session. The other two indices also ended into the red. The DS30, comprising blue chips lost 12.08 points or 0.71 per cent to close at 1,669.67 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) went down by 1.06 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 1,014.09 points. Turnover value on DSE came down to Tk 3.53 billion, registering 21.56 per cent decline over the previous session’s value of Tk 4.50 billion. The gainers and losers were almost same as out of 288 issues traded, 126 advanced, 125 declined and 37 issues closed unchanged on the DSE floor. The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 2,888.33 billion against Tk 2,895.38 billion in the previous session. Padma Oil became the top turnover leaders for the third running sessions with shares worth Tk 177.66 million changing hands followed by Lafarge Surrma Cement, Meghna Pertoleum, Square Pharma and BSC. Legacy Footwear was also the day’s highest gainer; posting a rise of 9.77 per cent while UCBL was the day’s worst losers, slumping by 6.04 per cent. The port city bourse --- the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX lost 64.36 points to close at 9,035.29 points. Losers beat gainers 126 to 68, with 25 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 6.82 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 309.80 million.