Stocks on bourses almost steady

Stocks finished almost flat on Thursday, the last trading day before Eid-ul-Azha, as nervous investors remained cautious amidst several macroeconomic cues.
Trading and official activities on the bourses will remain closed for four days from today (Friday) to Monday, including weekly holidays, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), inched up by 0.90 points to settle at 6,368.95, after losing over 6.0 points in the previous day.
Turnover stood at Tk 7.87 billion, which was 5.0 per cent higher than the previous day's tally of Tk 7.46 billion.
Market operators said most investors remained cautious due to global fuel price hike and its impact on the country's economy.
Load-shedding returned after several years as Bangladesh felt the pain of global energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war, said a leading broker.
He noted that the ongoing bearish sentiment made investors cautious while the news of deepening energy crisis and frequent power cuts across the country kept investors worried.
Besides, the Bangladesh Bank declared a relatively contractionary monetary policy and investors have continued their cautious stance amidst ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, he said.
"The market outlook remains gloomy as investors are concerned about several macroeconomic issues such as nationwide power outages due to gas shortages, inflationary pressure, depreciating currency, rising Covid-19 cases etc," said EBL Securities, in its regular market analysis.
International Leasing Securities said the stocks closed flat after a bumpy ride as most of the investors followed a cautious stance amid a global fuel price hike and its possible impact on the country's economy.
"The investors remained shaky and reluctant to make fresh investments in the stocks ahead of Eid vacation," said the stockbroker.
Two other indices dropped marginally. The DS30 Index, which consists of the blue-chip companies, fell 6.09 points to close at 2,293 and the DSES Index, which represents Shariah-based companies, shed 1.30 points to finish at 1,387.
Investors mostly focused on the textile sector, capturing 14 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by financial institutions (12 per cent) and miscellaneous (10 per cent).
Among the major sectors, telecom witnessed the highest correction of 1.60 per cent as the sector heavyweight Robi and Grameenphone lost 1.92 per cent and 1.70 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, financial institutions, power, food and banking sectors gained 0.70 per cent, 0.40 per cent, 0.30 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 378 issues traded, 166 advanced, 149 declined and 63 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Sonali Paper & Board Mills was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 739 million changing hands, followed by IPDC Finance, Beximco, Fortune Shoes and Intraco Refueling Stations.
Zahintex Industries was the top gainer, posting a 9.63 per cent gain while non-life Meghna Insurance was the day's worst loser, losing 1.99 per cent after a steep rise since debut on June 8 this year.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also inched up with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -gaining 2.35 points to settle at 18,751.83 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -rising 0.25 point to close at 11,238.24.
Of the issues traded, 128 advanced, 128 declined and 37 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 10.68 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth nearly Tk 285 million.

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