Dhaka stocks ended flat on Tuesday as the participation of some state-owned organisations kept the market afloat on the first day of the 36-hour hartal enforced by the BNP and its allies.
DSEX, the benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, finished at 3,515.26 points on the day as it lost 0.01 per cent, or 0.70 points.While the old benchmark general index of the bourse, DGEN, closed at 3,662.40 points, losing 0.04 per cent, or 1.52 points.
The DSEX and DGEN lost 55.30 points and 46.61 points in the last two days respectively after recording slight increase in the earlier week.
Market operators said few investors participated in the brokerage houses and the merchant banks on the day due to the hartal.
However, some state-owned organisations might have participated on the trading floor, which kept the market afloat, as a notable number of buy orders were placed when the indices started to enter the negative zone, they added.
A senior merchant banker said investors’ confidence will not receive a boost until stability is restored on the political front.
The market is unlikely to return to normalcy unless the finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank take necessary measures to this end, he added.
‘Since business dynamics is passing through political vibrations, investors adhered to conservative stance over heightened uncertainty. With earnings expectations driving up scrip wise activity, market observed significant intra-session movement across several scrips,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
DS30, the blue chip index of the bourse, finished at 1,307.46 points, gaining 0.14 per cent, or 1.87 points on Tuesday.
While the turnover of the bourse declined to Tk 121.42 crore from the earlier trading session’s Tk 133.44 crore.
Among the 244 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 143 advanced, 100 declined and 31 remained unchanged.
Bengal Windsor Thermoplastics topped the turnover chart as its shares worth Tk 7.12 crore changed hands while textile sector occupied 18.28 per cent of the day’s total trading.
Monno Ceramic topped the gainers’ list as its shares went up by 9.38 per cent while ONE Bank lost the most, 16.57 per cent.
-With New Age input
