Stocks fall slightly after record sessions

The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange – DSEX – tumbled slightly by 15.31 points or 0.22 per cent to 6,771 on Wednesday, after gaining 170 points in the past four consecutive sessions.

At the same time, turnover at the DSE declined by 7.78 per cent to Tk 2,466 crore. The bank sector dominated the turnover chart covering 15.85 per cent of total turnover on the bourse.

Investors opted to book profit after the index reached the highest level on Tuesday while many risk-averse investors sat on the sidelines to observe the market further, said EBL Securities in its daily market commentary.

However, the moderate correction was aggravated as the market had remained bullish for the last few weeks, it said.

Among major sectors, cement, general insurance and miscellaneous sectors experienced price rise while NBFI, bank and mutual fund sectors faced correction.

The DSEX index movement was versatile in the last session as stocks opened marginally higher in the early trading session but it was followed by a moderate correction and the index closed with a negative at the end of the day.

Market Cap of the Dhaka bourse on the day stood at Tk 550,560 crore, which is 0.12 per cent lower compared to the previous day. At the day’s end, DSES, the Shariah based index and DS30, the blue-chip index, went down 2 points and up 4.6 points respectively to their previous day’s level.

Out of the 374 issues traded, 138 advanced, 216 declined, and 20 remained unchanged on Dhaka bourse on the day.

Shahjibazar Power reigned in the top gainers list on the day, followed by Orion Infusion and Metro Spinning. The contrary, Jute Spinner, Shyampur Sugar Mills and Al-Arafah Bank were the top losers of the day.

BEXIMCO topped the turnover leader's list, whereas other market movers were IFIC Bank and LankaBangla Finance.

On the sectoral front, bank (15.85 per cent), textile (15.55 per cent), and fuel & power (10.64 per cent) sectoral issues were the most traded stocks on day’s trading board.

Most of the sectors observed persuasive performance, out of which cement (1.4 per cent), general insurance (1.3 per cent), and miscellaneous (1.3 per cent) have exerted the most return while NBFI (-1.7 per cent), bank (-1.4 per cent), and mutual fund (-1.2 per cent) observed correction on the Dhaka bourse.

Meanwhile, the port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also settled in red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) fell by 10.4 points and 21.4 points respectively.

The turnover value in the CSE was at Tk 92 crore. Out of the 328 issues traded, 125 advanced, 172 declined, and 31 remained unchanged on the bourse.