Stocks finished almost flat Sunday, snapping the previous session's sharp rise, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing liquidity shortage in the financial market.
Market operators said some investors preferred to book quick-gain on stocks that saw substantial gain in the recent upsurge while some took position on sector-wise issues, taking the market in the flat zone.
"Investors remain cautious amid ongoing liquidity shortage in the financial market coupled with uncertainty over the Dhaka bourse's share sales to strategic partner," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm, seeking anonymity.
He noted that the investors' confidence remained low with little buying appetite as liquidity crisis persisted and seemed not to be ended soon.
After witnessing see-saw movements throughout the session, DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,721, edging up by 1.10 points or 0.02 per cent over the previous day.
According to International Leasing Securities, the prime index witnessed see-saw movements as the investors were active on both sides of the trading fence throughout the session.
The stockbroker noted that despite the market opened on buying spree, middle hours witnessed selling pressure.
In the later part of the session, opportunistic investors took position in bank and telecom issues while life insurance, fuel & power and engineering issues observed selling pressure.
The two other indices also settled almost flat. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips advanced 2.69 points or 0.12 per cent to finish at 2,118. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) saw a fractional gain of 0.88 per cent to finish at 1,349.
Trading activities remained low as total turnover on the DSE amounted to Tk 2.75 billion, which was 16.64 per cent lower than the previous day's turnover of Tk 3.38 billion.
"Investors' buying pressure was spurred on stocks especially from telecommunication, banking and miscellaneous sectors," commented EBL Securities, in its regular market analysis.
Large-cap sectors showed mixed performance. Telecommunication posted the highest gain of 0.47 per cent, followed by banking 0.32 per cent, non-bank financial institutions 0.04 per cent.
On the other hand, power witnessed the highest correction of 0.61 per cent, followed by engineering 0.52 per cent, food & allied 0.09 per cent, and pharmaceuticals 0.04 per cent.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 331 issues traded, 172 closed lower, 122 closed higher and 37 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Monno Ceramic Industries topped the turnover chart with shares of Tk 95 million changing hands, closely followed by Mercantile Bank, Wata Chemicals, IFAD Autos and Queen South Textile.
The newly listed Queen South Textile was the day's highest gainer, posting a 10 per cent gain while Savar Refractories was the worst loser, losing by 4.93 per cent.
Port city bourse CSE also edged up after volatile trading with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - advancing 4.92 points to settle at 17,660 and selective Categories Index - CSCX - rising 2.18 points to finish at 10,663 points.
The losers and gainers were equal as 96 issues closed higher, 96 loser and 31 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 7.25 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 207 million in turnover.
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