Dhaka stocks edge down after 2 days of slight gains

Business Report :
Dhaka stocks inched down on Tuesday with decreased turnover after two days of marginal gains, as cautious investors dominated the session with a preference for selling shares, market operators said.

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 0.97 points, or 0.01 per cent, and settled at 6,276.65 points on Tuesday after gaining 2.54 points in the previous trading session.

Prior to Tuesday, the key index DSEX added 9.72 point in two trading sessions.

Market operators said that a section of investors chose to realise some profits and continued to adjust their portfolios in response to the most recent financial reports from publicly traded companies.

Investors were closely monitoring the market, opting for a cautious approach due to the absence of clear indications of a sustained upward trend on the market, they said.

However, the investors’ confidence was low due to growing worries about the country’s economy and increasing political tensions ahead of the national election, they said.

The turnover on the DSE slightly decreased to Tk 545.75 crore on Tuesday compared with that of Tk 595.76 crore in the previous trading session.

EBL Securities in its daily market commentary said, ‘The premier bourse of the country observed another flat session as cautious investors preferred profit booking and continued rebalancing their portfolios in response to recent earnings disclosures of the listed companies, while opportunistic investors pursued particular scrips with potential for quick gains.’

The market witnessed mild volatility throughout the session as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence, while sellers ended up on the dominant side by the end of the session owing to shaky confidence regarding the market momentum, it said.

On the sectoral front, general insurance issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by food and pharmaceutical stocks.