Dhaka stocks keep falling, turnover 3-week low

Investors witnessed another volatile trading session on Monday as buyers reined in the trading floor which pull down all major indices of the premier bourse Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The spree that the bargain hunter coming forward by taking fresh bets which prevailed in the past many sessions, changed in the last two trading sessions.

Most investors stayed on the sidelines, while cautious investors continued offloading their stocks for short term gains and rebalancing their portfolios, according to stockbrokers.

The DSEX, the broad index of the DSE, dropped 3.2 points to settle at 6,204 against 6,207 in the previous trading session.

Meanwhile, the capital bourse witnessed a decrease in participation, with the DSE turnover fell to a 21-days’ low to Tk 344 crore.

The yesterday’s turnover was also 23.8 per cent lower than the turnover tally of Tk 452 crore in the previous session.

Block trades contributed 31.4 per cent of the overall market turnover yesterday.

Investors remained watchful and were shifting their focus towards short-term trading and quick gain opportunities instead of taking long-term positions in equities due to shaky confidence and prolonged volatility in the market, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

The pharma sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 23.5 per cent to the total turnover of the DSE, followed by IT (12.9 per cent), and life insurance (12.4 per cent).

Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa Limited was the most traded issue with Tk 15 crore worth of shares changing hands.

Almost all the sectors displayed mixed returns on the DSE trading floor, with the travel facing the highest correction of 1.5 per cent, followed by tannery (0.5 per cent) and textile (0.3 per cent).

On the other hand, the life insurance posted the highest gain of 0.9 per cent, followed by services (0.7 per cent), and jute (0.4 per cent).

Chartered Life Insurance Company Limited topped the gainer list with a return of 3.1 per cent, while Al-Haj Textile Mills Limited was the day’s worst sufferer with a loss of 10 per cent.

Out of the securities traded, 51 stocks advanced, 35 issues declined and 305 scrips did not see any movement 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 all-share price index (CASPI) – inched up by 0.7 points and 1.0 points respectively.