Stocks end flat on bourses

The market ended nearly flat on Thursday, after choppy trading, as investors remained shaky to put fresh bets on stocks.
The market witnessed see-saw movement several times before edging higher as investors hesitated to make fresh investments in the market amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went up by 2.47 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 6,752, after losing over 21 points in the previous day.
The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also saw a fractional gain of 0.38 point to close at 1,456. However, the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, shed 2.69 points to finish at 2,466.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 8.29 billion, which was 4.0 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 8.63 billion.
Market analysts said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war escalated inflationary pressure on the macroeconomy further which held back many investors from putting fresh bets on stocks.
"The investors are shaky about making investments in stocks amid the rising cost of living and production in Bangladesh," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission recently wrote to several banks to invest in stocks in the existing capacity to support the market and development of the capital market, but it failed to revive the market sentiment, he said.
He noted that many investors remained worried about the ongoing crisis between Ukraine and Russia and the potential adverse impacts on the country's economy.
"The investors seem to have turned cautious on making fresh aggressive bets in stocks as commodity price hikes and inflation emerged as headaches for the average-income families that might hurt corporate earnings ultimately," said International Leasing Securities.
The investors' attention was mainly concentrated on miscellaneous, 14.5 per cent, followed by pharmaceuticals (13.3 per cent) and bank (9.9 per cent).
Among the major sectors, IT saw the highest loss of 1.40 per cent, followed by financial institutions with 0.50 per cent, food 0.40 per cent, pharma 0.30 per cent and textile 0.30 per cent.
On the other hand, cement, power and banking sectors gained 0.90 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.20 per cent respectively.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 379 issues traded, 171 declined, 143 advanced and 65 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco continued to top the turnover list with shares worth Tk 1.01 billion changing hands, followed by Fortune Shoes (Tk 737 million), Orion Pharma (Tk 453 million), Premier Bank (Tk 296 million) and Sonali Paper & Board Mills (Tk 204 million).
Khulna Power Company was the top gainer, posting a 9.72 per cent gain, following the news that its two power plants got extension for two more years.
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of these two plants of the Khulna Power Company expired on 28 May 2021 and 31 May 2021.
VFS Thread Dyeing was the day's worst loser, losing 1.98 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) edged higher with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -gaining 22 points to settle at 19,824 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - advancing 13 points to close at 11,893.
Of the issues traded, 165 declined, 80 advanced and 44 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port-city bourse traded 8.21 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth over Tk 201 million.

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