Profit booking pulls stocks down after three-day gaining

Stocks snapped the three-day gaining streak yesterday as a section of investors went for profit booking riding on the recent bullish trend of the market.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the premier bourse, dropped 21 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 6,538, losing its gaining streak after three straight sessions.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, went down 2.87 points or 0.12 per cent closing at 2,373 and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, lost 9.10 points or 0.63 per cent to 1,432.

Out of 373 stocks traded, 45 issues advanced, 219 declined and 109 did not see any price movement.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, fell to Tk1,691.5 crore, 10 per cent lower than the tally of Tk1,877.8 crore in the last trading session on the Dhaka bourse.

The equity indices on the Dhaka bourse lost their upward trend as sellers outnumbered buyers on the trading floor since investors continued partial liquidations of their holdings, said EBL Securities in daily market review.

The market remained afloat for the majority of the session despite volatility as investors’ buying spree was concentrated on some selective stocks while the others extended their correction mode. However, the last-hour heavy selling pressure pushed the index down, it said.

On the sectoral front, pharma (27.4 per cent) issues secured the highest turnover, followed by miscellaneous (20.0 per cent) and engineering (8.6 per cent) stocks.