Daily turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell to a near seven-month low today (14 October) as cautious investors largely stayed on the sidelines, despite a modest recovery in benchmark indices following heavy losses in recent sessions.
Turnover on the country's premier bourse stood at Tk416 crore, reflecting persistent liquidity constraints amid macroeconomic concerns and earnings uncertainty.
The benchmark DSEX rose 0.38%, gaining 20 points to close at 5,429, while the blue-chip DS30 index edged up 0.15% to 2,092 points.
Market breadth favoured gainers, with 197 issues advancing, 137 declining and 51 remaining unchanged.
EBL Securities noted in its daily market commentary that selective bargain hunting in recently battered stocks provided modest support, helping the market recover after shedding nearly 70 points in the preceding sessions. However, investor sentiment remained subdued amid domestic economic headwinds, weak corporate earnings expectations and global geopolitical tensions.
Sheltech Brokerage reported that the session saw a volatile tug-of-war between opportunistic buyers and profit-taking sellers. The market opened on a firm note, led by selective large-cap and insurance stocks, pushing the DSEX to an intraday high of 5,439 points.
Mid-session selling pressure dragged the index down to 5,412 points before a late buying wave helped it recover towards the day's high.
Textiles accounted for 24% of total trading volume, followed by general insurance at 13.4% and pharmaceuticals at 8.8%.
General insurance led sectoral gains, rising 2%, followed by life insurance at 1% and engineering at 0.9%. In contrast, jute stocks suffered the steepest correction, falling 4%, while services and financial institutions declined 1% and 0.9%, respectively.
Evince Textile topped the turnover chart by trade value, followed by Sonali Aansh, Prime Finance First Mutual Fund, Paramount Textile and Apex Spinning.
Usmania Glass led the gainers with a 9.82% surge, followed by Prime Finance First Mutual Fund at 9.81%, Techno Drugs at 9.58%, BIFC at 9.09% and Rahima Food at 8.12%.
On the losing side, Nurani Dyeing fell 7.14%, followed by Sharp Industries, Sonali Aansh, EBL First Mutual Fund and Standard Bank.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) moved in the opposite direction, with the CSCX falling five points to 8,912 and the CASPI shedding six points to close at 14,515.