On Tuesday, despite a rise in the share and unit prices of most companies, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) experienced a decline, marking a downward trend in all three trading sessions of the week. Notably, the index has fallen in seven of the ten trading days this year.

After price drops in the first two trading days, Tuesday’s session began with a surge in the prices of most shares, leading to an initial rise in the DSE’s main index by 40 points. Although the majority of companies maintained positive performance throughout the session, significant price drops in large-cap stocks during the final trading hour caused the index to end lower. By the close of the session, 181 companies saw price increases, 131 experienced declines, and 84 remained unchanged. Despite this, the DSEX index dropped by 1 point to close at 5,150. Among the other indices, the DS30 index, comprising 30 leading companies, fell by 1 point to 1,904, while the Shariah index rose by 1 point to 1,158.

The overall trading volume also declined, with transactions totaling Tk 351.14 crore, compared to Tk 397.81 crore in the previous session, marking a decrease of Tk 46.67 crore. The largest contributor to the trading volume was Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag, with shares worth Tk 11.88 crore changing hands. Midland Bank followed with Tk 11.62 crore in trades, and Fine Foods secured the third spot with Tk 11.14 crore.

Other top-traded companies included Aftab Automobiles, Orion Infusion, Asiatic Laboratories, Ymax Electrode, Lavello Ice Cream, Associated Oxygen, and Prime Finance First Mutual Fund.

In the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), the CASPI index dropped by 16 points. Among the 187 companies traded, 85 saw price gains, 72 faced declines, and 30 remained unchanged, with a total turnover of Tk 11.65 crore, down significantly from Tk 54.03 crore in the previous session.