Dhaka: The capital market's recovery momentum today paused for a while as cautious investors locked in recent gains, capitalizing on the significant rebound amid market-wide optimism surrounding media reports of long-awaited central bank's funding support for ICB. DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, shed 6.6 points and settled at 5,018 points as against 5,025 points in the previous trading session.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, market analysts observed that the market witnessed mild volatility as investors remained active on both sides of the trading fence, while broader profit-booking from risk-averse participants eroded early gains, pushing the benchmark index to settle in red territory by the session's end. Meanwhile, investor participation sustained the previous day's momentum, as evident from market turnover edging up by 0.1% to Taka 6.4 billion.
On the sectoral front, Textile accounted for the highest share of turnover at 12.0%, followed by Fuel and Power at 11.2% and Pharmaceuticals at 10.6%. Sectors displayed mixed returns, out of which Jute (-1.5%), Ceramic (-1.0%), and Life Insurance (-0.8%) exerted the most corrections on the bourse today, while Mutual Fund (3.1%), IT (2.5%), and Cement (1.1%) exhibited positive returns.
Of the 397 issues traded, 129 advanced, 226 declined, and 42 remained unchanged. The port city bourse, CSE, however, settled in a positive zone with the Selective Categories' Index (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) advancing by 68.4 points and 114.0 points, respectively.