Stocks brace for correction after 4-day rise

After four straight sessions of rise, Dhaka stocks faced a slight correction Monday as the market momentum shifted to correction mode due to profit booking spree of a section of investors.

Investors mainly the cautious investors opted to book profit following a sparked rally in the previous session owing to economic recovery signals.

Opportunist investors, however, continued chasing down selective scrips which they perceived as lucrative investment opportunities.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), edged down by 4.4 points to settle at 6,246 against 6,251 points in the previous trading session.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, went down 6.76 points or 0.30 per cent to close at 2,207, and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, fell 2.34 points or 0.17 per cent to finish at 1,362.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka bourse witnessed a slight increase in participation with the DSE turnover inching up by 0.3 per cent to Tk 713 crore against Tk 712 crore in the previous session.

The market witnessed some volatility with sellers dominating the trading floor as investors perceived every bounce back as an opportunity to book quick profits and took a cautious stance amid the dismal performance forecasts of the listed companies, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

The IT sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 19.0 per cent, followed by the pharma (18.5 per cent) and the miscellaneous (9.7 per cent).

Most of the sectors displayed mixed returns at the premier bourse with the IT posting the highest gain of 1.6 per cent, followed by travel (1.5 per cent) and cement (0.9 per cent).

On the other hand, the life insurance sector suffered the most with a loss of 1.4 per cent, followed by services (0.9 per cent) and pharma (0.4 per cent).

Out of the 391 issues traded, 61 advanced, 116 declined, and 214 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

The port city bourse, CSE, however, settled on green terrain with its two major indices – the selected indices (CSCX) and the all-share price index (CASPI) – inching up by 5.1 points and 9.2 points respectively.