Stocks continue to fall for the 2nd straight day

The stock market closed marginally lower for the second straight session on Monday.

Investors think that the index moved between positive and negative several times due to fundraising pressure rather than losing out on bringing in new investors as the Eid-ul-Azha festival comes.

Bourses observed a considerable slight rise in participation, while turnover has advanced by 1.2 per cent and stood at Tk 660 crore as against Tk 650 crore in the previous session.

Dhaka stocks closed in the red trajectory as the prolong bearish sentiment kept investors engaged in continues sell-offs, said EBL Securities.

DSEX, main index of DSE, declined by 12.9 points and settled at 6,347 points as against 6,360 points at the end of the day.

The DS30 Index, comprising blue chips, saw a fractional drop of 7.26 points to finish at 2,284 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 0.41 points to close at 1,385 point.

Investors’ concerns loomed around increased import costs and currency volatility, and the central bank continued to release dollars into the market, which may lead to a shortage of liquidity in the money market, EBL added.

On the sectoral front, Textile (18.3 per cent) issues exerted the highest turnover followed by Pharma (10.3 per cent) and Engineering (9.7 per cent) stocks.

Most of the sectors displayed positive returns, out of which Telecom (1.5 per cent), Cement (1.4 per cent), and Ceramic (1 per cent) generated some positive returns while Miscellaneous (-1 per cent), Tannery (-0.8 per cent) and Services (-0.8 per cent) exerted the most negative returns on the bourse today.

Out of the 386 issues traded, 149 advanced, 182 declined, and 55 remained unchanged.

Robi Axiata was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 27 crore changing hands, closely followed by Shinepukur Ceramics (Tk 24 crore), Meghna Insurance (Tk 23 crore), Intraco Refueling Station (Tk 22 crore) and Beximco (Tk 19 crore).

Zaheen Spinning was the top gainer, posting a 10 per cent gain while Trust Bank was the day’s worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 5 points to settle at 18,693 point and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –shedding 5.0 points to close at
11,204 point.