Stocks end lower for second day

Dhaka, Dec 10 (bdprem.com)—Stocks declined for a second day, influenced by falling prices of major power shares. The Dhaka Stock Exchange opened with a fall in the general index Monday but rose again within two hours of trade and started to decline in the midday session before becoming stable towards the end. Your Ad Here Shares of some big companies, however, rose. Market analyst Yaweer Sayeed said: "Since Bata Shoe declared dividends, the prices of multinational companies started to rise." "It was a perfectly normal trading day with all the sectors closing mixed. However issues such as Jamuna Oil and Meghna Oil are not coming to the market before Eid," said Sayeed, CEO and managing director of AIMS of Bangladesh. The DGEN or general index slipped 22.63 points or 0.77 percent to 2906.25. The DSI or all share price index fell 19.69 points or 0.79 percent to close at 2455.47. The DSE-20 blue chip index also declined. It shed 3.49 points or 0.15 percent to end at 2306.06. A total of 223 issues traded on the bourse. Decliners beat advancers 158 to 50, with 20 holding steady. Turnover on the DSE fell to Tk 1 billion from Sunday's Tk 1.13 billion from trading of 4,445,495 shares. Shares of UCBL that emerged at the peak of the top share board value fell 2.51 percent to Tk 4818.25. ACI, which scored second after UCBL, rose to Tk 186.10, up 3.79 percent. A new entrant to the market, Islami Bank Perpetual Bond, declined 2.57 percent to Tk 1476.25. Market major Power Grid Company of Bangladesh closed at Tk 673.50, down 1.28 percent. BRAC Bank, one of the most active shares, fell on profit-taking and slipped 1.19 percent to Tk 1525.50. Reliance Insurance, Gulf Foods, Padma Oil Compnay, Bangas, Amam Sea Food topped the pack of losers. All the indices on the Chittagong Stock Exchange ended lower with Pharma-Chemical and Leather-Footwear sector advancing and bank, energy and ICT shares declining. The CSCX or the CSE selective categories index declined 24.87 points or 0.52 percent to 4752.47. The CASPI or all share price index shed 42.67 points or 0.57 percent to close at 7443.83. The CSE-30 blue-chip index closed at 6507.81, down 27.35 points or 0.41 percent. Turnover declined to Tk 137.605 million from Sunday's Tk 175.672 million. Of the traded issues on the port city's bourse, 31 gained, 72 lost and 5 held steady.