Stocks passed another flat session on Sunday after choppy trading as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Analysts said some investors continued to take position on banking stocks while some others selling shares, particularly telecommunication issues, taking the market into the flat zone.
The banking sector showed positive movement with 2.89 per cent increase while telecommunication posted the maximum negative movement with 2.68 per cent fall.
EBL Securities said the market ended flat as investors preferred to take some profit ahead of the Eid.
Of the 30 listed banks, share prices of 25 closed higher, one ended lower while four remained unchanged over the previous session.
On the other hand, the largest market-cap Grameenphone (GP), witnessed the highest correction of 2.72 per cent or Tk 9.90 each to close at Tk 353.90.
Last week, the GP's share price declined 7.0 per cent or Tk 25.60 each, following a media report that the government moved to ask the lone listed mobile phone company to pay Tk 115.30 billion after an audit into the company.
Market insiders said the investors became cautious after the media report that the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission would ask GP to pay the government Tk 115.30 billion in dues as an audit found the company did not pay the amount over the years.
After witnessing volatility almost throughout the trading session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), saw a fractional gain of 0.18 point to settle at 5,407.
However, two other indices ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 0.63 points to finish at 1,892 points and the DSE Shariah Index lost 9.88 points to close at 1,235.
Turnover, an important indicator of the market, crossed Tk 8.0 billion-mark and the total turnover stood at Tk 8.18 billion, which was 16 per cent higher than the previous day's Tk 7.03 billion.
According to the International Leasing Securities, the prime index of the major bourse remained flat amid mixed trading behavior from the investors.
The stockbroker noted that the banking sector posted a 2.9 per cent positive return as optimistic investors took fresh position on selective banking issues.
However, excluding bank and IT sectors, all other sectors witnessed correction, particularly telecom, textile, fuel & power and pharmaceutical sectors stocks ahead of the Eid holidays, said the stockbroker.
The pharmaceuticals, power, financial institutions, engineering and food & allied also lost 1.30 per cent, 1.21 per cent, 0.74 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.31 per cent respectively.
Of the 337 issues traded on the day, 209 declined, 95 advanced and 33 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 160,661 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 250.88 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 3,825 billion, which was Tk 3,848 billion in the previous session.
BBS Cables dominated the turnover chart with 3.08 million shares worth Tk 367 million changing hands, followed by Saiham Textile, Shepherd Industries, IFAD Autos and Simtex Industries.
Shepherd Industries was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.77 per cent while Savar Refractories was the worst performer, losing 9.87 per cent.
The port city bourse CSE closed slightly lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 5.83 points to settle at 16,624 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - shedding 2.76 points to finish at 10,065.
The losers beat gainers as 143 issues closed lower, 86 ended higher, with 18 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 13.81 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 465 million in turnover.
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