Stocks ended flat in the red on Wednesday after choppy trading as investors mostly followed a cautious approach ahead of quarterly earnings declarations.
After witnessing a high volatility, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), saw a fractional loss of 0.13 point to settle at 7,032, after gaining over 13 points in the previous day.
Two other indices also edged lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 1.17 points to finish at 2,612 and the DSE Shariah Index saw a fractional loss of 0.56 point to close at 1,504.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, remained almost the same and amounted to Tk 11.15 billion, which was Tk 11.17 billion in the previous day.
Market analysts said the market witnessed volatility as many investors traded cautiously amidst the rising trend of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Most of the investors are waiting for upcoming quarterly earnings and dividend decoration before taking position in stocks, they said.
The rising virus cases prompted general investors to realise capital gain, while the bargain hunters showed their buying interest on sector-wise issues, taking the market in the flat zone, according to a merchant banker.
The rising Covid-19 cases prompted many investors to sell-off stocks to realise capital gain while few sector-specific issues seemed to gain investors' attention ahead of the forthcoming earning declarations, commented EBL Securities.
The investors mostly focused in textile sector, capturing 15.5 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by miscellaneous (14 per cent) and pharma (11.7 per cent).
Major sectors witnessed mixed performances. Financial institutions saw the highest gain of 2.20 per cent, followed by textile (1.40 per cent), power (0.10 per cent), pharma (0.10 per cent) and banking (0.10 per cent).
Food and engineering sectors lost 0.40 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.
Of the 381 issues traded, 158 advanced, 157 declined and 66 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading board.
A total number of 197,210 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 225.24 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE rose to Tk 5,632 billion on the day which was Tk 5,621 billion in the previous session.
Beximco, which lost 0.13 per cent, was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 831 million changing hands, followed by Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Matin Spinning Mills, RAK Ceramic and Orion Pharma.
Union Bank, which made its debut Wednesday, was the day's top gainer, posting a 10 per cent while the Apex Footwear Ltd was the worst loser, losing 8.69 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 38 points to settle at 20,597 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-shedding 25 points to close at 12,371.
Of the issues traded, 140 advanced, 133 declined and 36 remained unchanged on the CSE.
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