Indices remain flat amid rise in turnover

The Dhaka bourse's turnover seems to be surging gradually with increased investor participation, whereas the indices manifested a flat performance for the last two trading sessions.

On Monday, turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) increased by 18% to Tk334.69 crore, compared to the previous trading session.

DSEX, the board-based index of the DSE, inched down by 0.01% to 6,191, while both the Shariah index DSES and blue-chip DS30 moved meagrely up to 1,352 and 2,192 respectively.

Out of the 327 scrips traded at the DSE, the price of only 32 increased, while 131 declined and 164 remained unchanged.

Last week, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) had a meeting with relevant stakeholders of the stock market, and urged the market intermediaries to put more effort into increasing the inflow of funds in the stock market, and come up with ways to boost investor confidence.

The market regulator also assured that the floor price for the remaining 232 scrips will not be lifted until the market regains its momentum.

But apparently, the BSEC's efforts had little effect on the indices as they have been somewhat flat throughout the last two trading sessions.

However, the commission's meeting with the market stakeholders on 4 January did bring some positivity in terms of participation as turnover crossed Tk300 crore the next day.

EBL Securities said, in its daily market commentary on Monday, investors were active on both selling and buying fences throughout the session, but ultimately, buying pressure increased for selective issues and the DSEX ended slightly lower.

"Investors' willingness to maintain long-term positions in equities has weakened owing to the dismal financial performances by the listed companies, and the limited opportunity for liquidation," reads the commentary.

The pharmaceutical sector contributed the highest 19.6% to the DSE turnover on Monday, followed by IT adding 18.7%, and life insurance adding 11.3%.

Most sectors witnessed corrections, of which, jute fell by 1%, life insurance by 0.8%, and tannery by 0.5%.

On the other hand, IT posted the highest price appreciation of 1.9%, paper rose by 1.4%, and services by 1.3% on Monday.