Stock market sees gloomy day as turnover hits 13-year low

The market remained sluggish Thursday as most of the stocks were traded at their reference floor prices with turnover hitting a 13-year low in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

DSEX, the prime index at the DSE, dropped 10 points, or 0.3 percent, to close the day at 3,953.

The Shariah-based DSES index also slipped 3 points, or 0.3 percent, to settle at 916, while the blue-chip index DS30 went down 7 points, or 0.5 percent, to stand at 1,321.

On the other hand, the benchmark index Caspi at the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) inched up 7 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 11,238.

The market displayed a slide in its intraday performance graph since the beginning of the trading session and carried out this trend till the mid-hours. However, it then gained points slightly and remained flat till the end of the session.

Trading at the premiere bourse remained significantly low as the floor price did not leave much scope for investors to trade amid the Covid-19 stricken stress on the economy, stated the Daily Market Review of UCB Capital Management Ltd.

As a result, turnover at the DSE decreased by 72 percent to Tk42.9 crore Thursday , from Tk152.6 crore in the previous session.

However, turnover at the port city bourse increased by 28 percent from Tk3.6 crore to Tk4.6 crore.

Most of the sectors posted losses Thursday , with the life insurance sector losing the highest 1 percent in the sector return board.

The banking sector posted the highest price appreciation of 1.03 percent as few banks gained artificially due to no adjustment in the floor price after record date, according to the review.

Among the other large-cap sectors, pharmaceuticals lost 0.7 percent price, whereas financial institutions inched up 0.01 percent and telecom gained 0.06 percent.

The pharmaceuticals sector once again contributed the most, 51.5 percent, to the total turnover value, followed by telecom stocks adding 13.4 percent and the banking sector adding 12 percent in the sector-wise turnover distribution board.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd topped the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk6.9 crore, closing the day at Tk61.1 per share. The stock was also the worst loser in the losers' table, shedding 7.2 percent.

Linde Bangladesh Ltd was the best performer in the gainers' table, gaining 2.6 percent and closing at Tk1,255.7 per share.

Out of the 309 issues traded Thursday , only 11 advanced, 36 declined, and 262 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.