DSEX snaps three-day rally, telecom shines

The benchmark DSEX index fell on Thursday, snapping a three-day rally, as investors opted for booking profits across major sectors.

A continued rally over the past few sessions encouraged investors to offload their stockholdings. Index-heavy bank, energy, and NBFI sectors succumbed to selling pressure.

Despite pessimism at the Dhaka Stock Exchange, telecommunication and pharmaceutical sectors outperformed others and attracted a modest buying activity.

In the morning, the trading session began with a positive note, but investor enthusiasm in early hours kept the index in the green for a brief period. The uptrend ended due to weak investors’ sentiment and the market declined at a steady pace throughout the day. Steep falls towards the end of the session deepened the loss.

At close, the DSEX recorded a decrease of 61 points or 0.86 per cent to settle at 7,000, hitting a high of 7,090 and a low of 6,994.

The Shariah-based DSES index edged 8 points or 0.60 per cent down to 1,470 and the blue-chip DS30 index was down 18 points or 0.69 per cent to 2,620.

Some of the market heavyweights such as Grameenphone, Robi, and Square Pharmaceuticals helped the market from falling further.

The euphoria on banking stocks ended as all the banking issues except four closed in red led by Rupali Bank falling 1.7 per cent.

The low-cap textile sector also lost ground led by Zahintex Industries dropping more than 11 per cent.

However, Hamid Fabrics continued to increase following its corporate declaration. It rose 9.8 per cent. Safko Spinnings Mills gained most rising more than 20 per cent following its corporate declaration.

The turnover was down 5.8 per cent to Tk 1,637 crore from Tk 1,724 crore. Out of 375 issues traded, 122 advanced, 226 declined and 27 remained unchanged.

Aramit Cement was the worst loser slumping over 23 per cent following its corporate declaration. It was followed by National Feed Mill, Pacific Denims, GBB Power, Monno Fabrics and Zahin Textile. Beximco Ltd was the most traded stock, followed by IFIC Bank, SAIF Powertec, Orion Pharmaceuticals, Fortune Shoes and BATBC.