DHAKA, June 7, 2018 (BSS) – Stock market closed lower on Thursday when
investors were cautious as Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith was
unveiling the national budget for 2018-19 financial year (FY19).
Both the stock exchanges of the country started the budget day trading on
a weaker note and eventually closed lower.
The DSEX of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) finished the day 32.09 points
lower at 5366.67 when the blue-chips DS30 was 15.47 points down at 1978.07.
The Sharia-based DSES followed the suit to finish at 7.85 points lower at
1238.04.
Although wider market activity was lower, some investors booked shares
of a number of actively traded issues for long-term profit. As a result, the
daily trade volume and value declined marginally from the previous day trade.
The day’s share trade value was Taka 454.4 crore for 9.43 crore shares
at DSE when United Power, Alif Industries, Aman Feeds, Legacy Footwear and
Brac Bank were the top traded securities.
The major gainers included Aziz Pipe, DB Autocars, Legacy Footwear,
Libra Infusion, Dragon Sweater and Asia Pacific Insurance. The major losing
issues were Pragati Insurance, Ruplai Life, Alif Industries, Northern Jute,
Gemini Sea Food, Safco Spinning and Janata Insurance.
Like DSE, major CASPI index of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) was 72.38
points down at 16549.78. The daily trade value at CSE also declined on the
day to Taka 20.20 crore for 63.31 lakh shares.
Some brokers expected that the market would get enough strength next
week on post-budget trade as the finance minister proposed tax cut for listed
banks and other financial institutions by 2.5 percentage points to 37.5
percent.