Stocks ended flatlined Thursday amid choppy trading as late hours selling pressure wiped out early gains.
The market opened with a positive note, but failed to sustain as the session progressed. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), inched down by 1.24 points or 0.02 per cent to close at 4,345.89 points.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 0.30 points or 0.01 per cent to close at 1,671.17 points. However, the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) closed in positive, gaining 3.06 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 1,065.68.
Turnover, the most crucial gauge of the market, declined 1.08 per cent to Tk 3.67 billion, compared to the previous day's value of Tk 3.71 billion.
The investors' attention remained mostly focused on power, pharma and engineering - the sectors that accounted for 26 per cent, 21 per cent and 10 per cent of the day's total turnover.
"The market failed to sustain its positive walk as pessimist investors took the lead over the optimists," said International Leasing Securities, a stock broker, in an analysis.
Despite the softening tone in the country's shaky political arena, investor's sentiments oscillated between optimism and carefulness, leading the market to close another flat session, said the stock broker.
"Cheaper price level of several issues attracted opportunistic investors to the market. However, their buy pressure seemed inadequate to make a difference in the broad market," IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said.
"Participants' lack of confidence on the stability of political calm remained a major reason of the pessimism," said the merchant bank.
LankaBangla Securities, a stock broker, said the last day of the week saw another turbulent trading session. The market experienced a lot of ups and down throughout the session, but closed almost at the same point where it started.
The large-cap sectors showed mixed performance. Cement registered the highest gain of 0.88 per cent. Banks went up slightly by 0.12 per cent and pharmaceuticals closed flat with 0.04 per cent rise.
Fuel and power retraced, losing 0.87 per cent. Telecommunication and food and allied sectors ended lower by 0.44 per cent and 0.24 per cent respectively. NBFIs went down 0.27 per cent.
Losers outpaced gainers as out of 304 issues traded, 158 declined, 125 advanced, and 21 remained unchanged.
Activities decreased slightly in the major bourse, where trade and volume were down by 3.80 per cent and 6.18 per cent respectively. A total number of 0.101 million trades were executed with trading volume of 69.92 million securities.
The market capitalisation on the DSE stood at Tk 3,115.47 billion against Tk 3,121.04 billion in the session before.
Newly listed United Power remained the most traded stock for five consecutive sessions with shares worth Tk 456.86 million changing hands, capturing 12.42 per cent of day's total turnover, followed by ACI, Square Pharma, MJL BD and IFAD Autos.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also returned to the red with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 36.22 points to close at 8,090.85 points.
Losers beat gainers 126 to 81, with 28 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 7.78 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 337.82 million.
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