Stocks end lower as most sectors lose ground

Dhaka stocks ended a volatile session lower on Wednesday after marking their strong rally in the previous session.

The benchmark DSEX index succumbed to selling pressure, losing some gains accumulated in early trade to close the session in the red.

After crossing 6,800-level briefly in the morning, the broad index shed 21 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 6,750. It marked an intra-day high of 6,807 and a low of 6,745 during the session.

Most sectors led by non-banking financial institutions, banks, textile, and engineering contributed to selling pressure later in the day. However, insurance cement and jute stocks avoided the selling pressure.

Two other junior indices—the Shariah-based DSES moved down 4 points or 0.28 per cent to 1,456. The blue-chip DS30 index declined 1.61 points or 0.06 per cent to 2,469.

“Equity indices failed to sustain yesterday’s upward momentum and ended in red terrain, despite interventions by the regulator as investors’ booked short-term profit,” said the EBL Securities in a note.

Trading activities remained sluggish and participation on the bourse logged lower than that of the last session as most investors remained on the sidelines owing to the temporary circuit breaker, which caused many stocks to remain dearer at the current price level for investors.

As a result, bourses observed a decrease in participation as the turnover declined by almost 10 per cent to stand at Tk 8,600 crore from Tk 9,600 crore in the previous session.

Out of the 384 issues traded, 76 advanced, 263 declined, and 45 remained unchanged. Delta Brac Housing Finance Corp hit the lower limit circuit at 10 per cent as it resumed trade after the record date for dividend entitlement.

Navana CNG hit the lower limit circuit breaker at 2 per cent as per the latest curb recently imposed by the securities regulator to prevent the market from crashes taking a cue from the raging war between Russia and Ukraine.

Individually, Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh, Sonali Paper and Board Mills, Delta Life Insurance, Grameenphone, and National Life Insurance contributed positively to the index.

Beximco Ltd—the flagship company of the Beximco Group—was the most traded stock with shares worth almost Tk 125 crore changed hands, accounting for more than 14 per cent of the total turnover.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled in red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) have declined by 6.8 points and 11.5 points respectively.