Trade in Dhaka stocks slides after brief surge

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has seen a downturn in trade volume and key index points after a brief upsurge.

On Wednesday, the premier bourse of the country suffered a massive slide, shedding 150 points in a day. On Thursday and the following working day, Monday, the DSE rebounded by racking up 119 points.

On Tuesday, however, the benchmark index DSEX dropped 46.97 points to 4,874, registering Tk 3.43 billion in turnovers, down from Tk 3.64 billion the previous day.

Trading on Monday peaked an hour and 45 minutes after the start, gaining 32 points over Monday’s closing at 4,934. But under selling pressure, the index reverted to dip and lose Tuesday’s gains around 12:30pm.

With share prices of most companies declining on Tuesday, the banking, mutual fund, and food and allied sectors pulled ahead in terms of trading.

According to DSE data, of the 398 listed companies, only 54 rose in prices, 309 dropped while 35 traded in previous prices.

The banking sector accounted for Tk 959.5 million, or 28.85 percent, of total turnovers, while the mutual funds followed at Tk 416 million.

First Bangladesh Fixed Income Fund, City Insurance, and Prime Finance First Mutual Fund topped the gainers list at the close, while Maidas Finance, SEML Lecture Equity Management Fund, and NRB Bank lost the most.