Sale pressure pulls stocks down

Snapping the bullish trend, Dhaka stocks dipped Sunday as a heavy late-session selloff pressure pulled down the benchmark index, causing the market failing to stay afloat.

Following the market rally in the past few sessions, investors went for securing short-term gains; thus they take on selling sector-specific shares especially life insurance securities which they bought previously at lower prices, stockbrokers and analysts said.

With a large number of investors being engaged in the life insurance sector, it alone accounted for nearly 30 per cent of the total market turnover yesterday.

The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), declined 11.3 points to settle at 6,342 against 6,353 in the previous trading session.

Turnover, another crucial indicator of the market, fell by 3.1 per cent to Tk 1,030 crore against the tally of Tk 1,063 crore in the previous session.

The life insurance sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 29.2 per cent of the total turnover of the DSE, followed by pharma (9.6 per cent) and food (9.2 per cent) stocks.

Meghna Life Insurance was the day’s turnover leader with Tk 55 crore worth of its shares changing hands, followed by Navana Pharmaceuticals (Tk 41 crore), and Fareast Islami Life Insurance (Tk 40 crore).

The market witnessed mild volatility as sellers reined in the market since cautious investors were enticed to profit-booking following the recent price appreciation in particular scrips from selective sectors, as they expected a probable shift in the market momentum, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

Most sectors displayed mixed returns, with the travel securing the highest gain of 4.5 per cent, followed ceramic (1.2 per cent) and paper (0.9 per cent).

On the other hand, the life insurance faced the highest correction of 5.0 per cent, followed by IT (2.3 per cent) and general insurance (1.9 per cent).

Trust Islami Life Insurance topped the gainers’ chart of the DSE with a return of 10 per cent, while Pragati Life Insurance suffered the most with a loss of 9.9 per cent.