Stocks Down amid Low Turnover

On Monday, the Dhaka-Chattogram stock market was under pressure to sell down as cautious investors chose to hold onto some capital in the face of rising interest rates and a turbulent stock market.

The blue-chip index DS30 dropped 5 points to 2,166 on Monday, while the DSEX, the benchmark index, declined 0.07% to settle at 6,337.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange's (CSE) broad-based index, CSCX, dipped by 0.07% to 11,190, while the port city exchange's turnover plummeted by 44% to Tk8.67 crore.

As the money market was giving about 100 basis points higher interest in July, analysts said that some risk-averse investors were searching for an assured return on a portion of their cash by putting it in fixed income products.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange, however, saw a decline in participation as overall trading dropped 15% to Tk633 crore.

Due to investor selling off, 102 scrips saw a fall, compared to 69 that saw a rise, and 186 that saw no change.

In the meanwhile, non-life insurance shares had a rapid rise despite the DSE's negative trend, leading to the inclusion of eight firms on the list of the day's top ten gainers.

In addition, investors profited from shares that rose in value during the past several days. These shares were the biggest losers on the DSE as a result.