Stocks inch down after volatile trading

Stocks inched lower on Monday after volatile trading as the investors took cautious stance.
Market insiders said the market finished almost flat as a section of investors continued with profit-booking mood while some others remaining busy rebalancing their portfolios after quarterly earnings declarations.
After witnessing volatility, DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 3.61 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 5,353.
According to EBL Securities, investors opted for profit booking prior to the Eid-ul-Azha vacation.
The stockbroker noted that the market witnessed sell-off from the beginning of the session that was offset to some extent in the later part of the session as investors took position on undervalued stocks.
The DSE Shariah Index also fell 2.87 points to close at 1,249. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.26 points to finish at 1,889.
Trading activities remained almost same over the last session as the total turnover stood at Tk 6.39 billion, which was 3.0 per cent lower than the previous day's Tk 6.59 billion.
International Leasing Securities noted that the investors' selling spree was observed in different stocks, especially from IT, general insurance and financial institutions sectors while textile, fuel & power and paper sectors saw buoyancy.
The newly listed Aman Cotton Fibrous attracted the investors, which prompted some selling pressure in other issues and secured its position in the top ten turnover chart, said the stockbroker.
Among the major sectors, telecommunication witnessed the highest correction of 3.20 per cent, followed by financial institutions 1.07 per cent.
Textile and fuel & power showed an increase of 1.13 per cent and 1.06 per cent respectively.
Pharmaceuticals, food, banking and engineering also advanced 0.33 per cent, 0.26 per cent, 22 per cent and 0.07 per cent respectively.
Of the 335 issues traded, 187 declined, 108 advanced and 40 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Aman Cotton Fibrous, which made debut trading on Monday, topped the turnover chart with 7.08 million shares worth Tk 518 million changing hands, followed by United Power, Dragon Sweater, Saiham Textile and Brac Bank.
A total number of 166,187 trades were executed in the day's trading session on the DSE with trading volume of 175.13 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE rose to Tk 3,842 billion on the day which was Tk 3,847 billion in the previous session.
The port city bourse CSE also finished lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - losing 52 points to settle at 16,439 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - falling 32 points to finish at 9,949.
The losers beat gainers as 138 issues closed lower, 78 ended higher, with 26 issues remaining unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 9.74 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 356 million in turnover.

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