Dhaka stocks dropped on Tuesday in volatile trading as investors offloaded shares with four trading sessions remaining ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals for Muslims.
DSEX, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, declined to 3,957.20 points, shedding 0.45 per cent or 17.92 points.
The index advanced by 55.40 points on Monday after losing 156.78 points in the previous two trading sessions.
Market operators said investors were on selling spree ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr to meet the festival-related expenses.
The stock market will be closed from August 6, they said.
They said fears over political unrest after the Eid might be another reason for the dullness in the market as the opposition party leaders said that they would go for tougher political protests demanding caretaker government after the festival.
A section of investors remained on the sideline to observe the market situation as the market lost half of its total gain made in a three-month bull run in the last 13 days, they said.
DGEN, the old key index of the bourse, declined by 0.42 per cent, or 18.24 points, to closed at 4,311.13 points on Tuesday.
DS30, the blue-chip index of the DSE, finished at 1,481.15 points, losing 0.63 per cent or 9.47 points.
The turnover of the bourse declined to Tk 344.73 crore from Tk 346.37 crore in the previous trading session.
Of the 282 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 73 advanced, 196 declined and 13 remained unchanged.
‘As neither of the demand and supply forces could dominate during today’s [Tuesday] session, market maintained a horizontal line. Lack of fresh positioning and re-positioning kept the participation sluggish with average turnover of Tk 378.70 crore for the last seven consecutive sessions,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
‘Meanwhile, investors were upholding their judgment to be much more careful in respect of their day-to-day trading as they were observing turnaround situation,’ it also said.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company led the turnover leaders with
its shares worth Tk 31.57 crore changing hands on the day.
Meghna Petroleum, Padma Oil, Grameenphone, Jamuna Oil, Olympic Industries, UCBL, Titas Gas, Square Pharmaceuticals and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation were also among the turnover leaders on the day.
JMI Syringes and Medical Devices gained the most on the day as its share price advanced by 9.89 per cent, while Forth ICB Mutual Fund lost the most, shedding 14.58 per cent.
-With New Age input
