Rally in heavyweights fails to save the day

The key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange snapped a five-day winning streak on Monday weighed down by heavy profit-booking selling pressure on almost all the large-cap sectors.

A strong rally in index heavyweight shares like British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company (BATBC), Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh, ICB, Beximco Ltd and Beximco Pharmaceuticals failed to lift the market.

In line with the previous session, the market began on a positive note in the morning but the last-minute selling pressure pushed the market down.

The benchmark DSEX index was down 28 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 7,327, scaling back from its all-time high of 7,356.

The Shariah-based DSES index saw a fractional loss of 0.22 points or 0.01 per cent to 1,593. However, the blue-chip comprising the DS30 index added over 23 points or 0.85 per cent to 2,765.

BATBC shares surged 2.39 per cent, extending its rally for the second straight session. The multi-national tobacco manufacturer contributed more than 25 points to the index. It is the sixth most traded stock.

Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh shares rallied 5.37 per cent, its highest gain in recent days. The multi-national cement maker contributed about 17 per cent to the index. It was the second most traded stock.

State-owned financial institution ICB also surged over 3 per cent, extending its gaining streak for the sixth straight session. The stock contributed 11.5 points to the index. It remained spotlight since it announced that it will issue a $300 million bond in the international market to increase its investment in stocks.

Beximco Ltd—the flagship company of the industrial conglomerates Beximco Group— was up by over 3 per cent. The stock gained for the second consecutive session and contributed almost 10 per cent to the index. It was the most traded stock of the day.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals—one of the country’s largest drug makers—gained over 2 per cent, extending its gaining streak for the third straight session. The stock contributed 6.6 per cent to the index. It was the fourth most traded stock.

Prices of 80 per cent stocks declined as out of 376 issues traded, 48 closed in negative, 297 negative and 31 remained unchanged.

All the large-cap sectors posted negative performance as a bout of profit-booking took place on most stocks.

Energy experienced the highest loss of over 1 per cent, followed by bank 0.85 per cent, NBFI 0.55 per cent, engineering 0.34 per cent, telecommunication 0.33 per cent, pharmaceutical 0.31 per cent, and food and allied 1.56 per cent.

Trading activities got momentum as turnover increased by nearly 13 per cent to Tk 2,755 crore—the fourth biggest turnover in the history of the DSE—backed by the pharmaceuticals sector that made up more than 15 per cent of the total turnover.

Engineering sector also contributed 12.22 per cent, followed by fuel & power 9.88 per cent of the total turnover.

Dhaka bourse opened in the green and traded higher in the first half of the session but investors embarked on profit-booking which wipe out the early gains and the market nosedived in a red trajectory at the closure of the trading session.

Many investors turned their focus to upcoming financial disclosures as a result, their participants displayed a portfolio restructuring approach in selective sectors, said the EBL Securities in its daily market analysis.

Besides, due to intense profit booking moves by the investors, the total turnover has advanced, it said.