The stock market in Bangladesh witnessed a mixed trend yesterday as all indices of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DES) rose marginally but Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) fell amidst an intense sale pressure.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the country's premier bourse, went up by 17.65 points, or 0.33 percent, from that on the previous day before closing at 5,316, marking a rise for a second consecutive day.

Similarly, the DSES index that is composed of Shariah-compliant companies grew by 1.95 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,184. The DS30 index of blue-chip firms edged up by 2.10 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,972.

Out of 394 scrips that changed hands, 152 witnessed a price increase, 175 closed lower and the remaining 67 did not see any price movement.

However, the CSE experienced an opposite trend as the CSE All-Share Price Index (CASPI), the broad index of the port city bourse, declined by 26.82 points, or 0.18 percent, to settle at 14,781.

The day's turnover, which is an indicator of measuring the total value of shares that were traded, at the DSE stood at Tk 480 crore, a decrease of 16.93 percent compared to the previous day's trading session.

The pharmaceuticals sector dominated the chart, accounting for 16.79 percent of the total turnover.

Block trades, meaning high-volume transactions in securities that are privately negotiated and executed outside the open market, contributed 2.5 percent of the overall market turnover.

Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd emerged as the most traded share, with a turnover of Tk 24.1 crore.

Among the sectors, general insurance, life insurance and miscellaneous became the top three to close in the positive, according to the daily market update by UCB Stock Brokerage.

Jute, travel and leisure and paper and printing were the top three to close in the negative.

The sectors that account for large amounts in market capitalisation, which refers to the value of a company's outstanding shares, posted a mixed performance, as per the daily market update of BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage.

The engineering sector booked the highest gain of 0.28 percent, followed by banking (0.16 percent), and pharmaceuticals (0.07 percent).

Among those incurring losses were fuel and power (0.02 percent), non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) (0.63 percent), food and allied (0.71 percent), and telecommunication (1.02 percent).

Companies like Olympic Industries, Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills (BSRM), Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, GPH Ispat, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, BSRM Steels, BRAC Bank and Confidence Cement drew investors, according to LankaBangla Financial Portal.

However, none of the companies saw a double-digit growth. Olympic Industries alone enabled the DSEX to rise by 4.18 points, the highest among the gainers.

However, BAT Bangladesh, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Grameenphone, Renata, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Best Holdings, Unique Hotel & Resorts, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Robi Axiata and Anwar Galvanizing suffered losses.

Of them, BAT Bangladesh caused the highest loss of 3.35 points.