Stocks close flat amid dull trading

Stocks witnessed yet another flat session yesterday amid volatile trade as modest profit booking continued. The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange DSEX was marginally down 1 point to finish at 4,577. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, dropped 3 points to 1,762. The DSE Shariah Index fell 2 points to 1,116. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX declined 17 points to 8,553. Trading activities continued to decline as the DSE turnover stood at Tk447 crore, down 5% over the previous session. The market remained dull for the major part of the day where accumulation was seen in engineering issues, accounting for over 20%. The block transaction also made up for over 3% of the total turnover. Shares of 324 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 112 stocks closed higher, 130 declined while 82 remained unchanged. Life insurance sector attracted the investors, posting the highest rise of 3.7%, led by Delta Life Insurance that climbed over 8%, which was the top gainer of the day. Engineering sector was the second best performer with a rally of 0.7%, pulled up by National Tubes. Telecommunication, power and pharmaceuticals closed flat. Keya Cosmetics was the most-traded share with a turnover worth about Tk20 crore. It was followed by BSRM Limited, MJL Bangladesh Limited, National Tubes, Shahjibazar Power Company Ltd and Lafarge Surma Cement.