Stocks tumble but insurance shines

Dhaka stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, extending their losing streak for the third consecutive session.

The market was in the negative territory throughout the session but the decline was accelerated due to the last-minute heavy selling pressure.

The benchmark DSEX index plunged 65 points or 0.89 per cent to settle at 7,248. It lost more than 119 points in the last three trading sessions.

Shariah-based DSES index dropped over 24 points or 1.53 per cent to 1,566 while the blue-chip index DS30 slipped 32.31 points or 1.17 per cent to 2,717.

“Despite, higher-earning disclosures the stocks are experiencing corrections as investors trimmed their position in recent outperformers and favored selling shares that have reached their peak,” said the EBL Securities in its market analysis.

Rally in BATBC, NRBC Bank, Genex Infosys, EBL, Delta Life Insurance, Reliance Insurance prevented the market to fall further.

The cement sector was the worst loser shedding 4.42 per cent, led by Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh with a drop of 5.87 per cent.

The sector was followed by travel and leisure, NBFI, textile, tannery, ceramics, engineering and energy.

However, the insurance sector shined led by Eastern Insurance Company hitting the upper limit circuit breaker at 9.98 per cent. The company was the second-largest gainer after NRBC Bank.

Out of top ten gainers, six came from the insurance sector. The companies were Janata Insurance, Reliance Insurance, Global Insurance, Northern Insurance and Prime Insurance.

The total turnover has advanced slightly by 4.79 per cent to Tk 1,953 crore over the previous session.

On the sectoral front, pharma (12.43 per cent), tannery (10.81 per cent), and bank (10.16 per cent) issues were in most demand.

Out of the 376 issues traded, 106 advanced, 241 declined, and 29 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse, CSE, also plummeted in red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) declined by 104.6 points and 177.0 points respectively.