Stocks down for 2nd day

Stocks closed lower for the second running session on Monday with turnover remained poor as investors were largely inactive amid lack of direction.

The market opened with a negative note which sustained till closure of the session. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 22.30 points or 0.46 per cent to finish at 4,768.66. The two other indices also closed in the red.

The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 8.42 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 1,826.97. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 5.31 points or 0.44 per cent to end at 1,176.48. Turnover remained thin at the DSE and amounted to Tk 3.51 billion which was Tk 3.50 billion in the previous day. The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 316 issues traded, 205 closed lower, 72 higher and 39 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor. Square Pharmaceuticals dominated the day’s turnover chart with shares of Tk 288.59 million changing hands followed by Islami Bank, Lafarge Surma Cement, Titas Gas and FAR Chemicals. Northern Jute Manufacturing was the day’s best performer, posting a rise of 8.74 per cent while National Bank was the day’s worst loser, plunging by 11.20 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower with thin trading activities with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – lost 48.90 points to end at 8,883.42. Losers beat gainers 41 to 169, with 32 issues remained unchanged on the port city bourse that traded 7.22 million shares and mutual fund units with a value of Tk 236 million. -FE