Dhaka stocks witnessed a significant setback, as the key index of the prime bourse fell over 21 points, driven by heavy sale pressure in major stocks.
Cautious investors opted to liquidate their holdings as they expected a probable shift in market momentum amid shaky confidence across the trading floor, leading the core index fall below the 6,300 mark again.
The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), plunged 21.4 points to settle at 6,286 points against 6,307 points in the previous trading session.
Turnover, another crucial market indicator, plummeted by 23.5 per cent to Tk 536 crore against the tally of 701 crore in the previous session.
The general insurance sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 27.4 per cent of the total turnover of the Dhaka bourse, followed by food and allied (16.5 per cent) and life insurance (13.8 per cent).
The market remained downbeat throughout the session, with the majority of scrips experiencing corrections due to investors’ sell-domination spurring worries regarding the market outlook. However, some quick-gain focused investors chased particular life insurance stocks with positive expectations of a short-term gain amid subdued investment appetite across the bourse, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.
Most the sectors displayed dismal returns, out of with the travel facing the highest correction of 5.6 per cent, followed by IT (1.8 per cent), and paper (1.3 per cent), while only the life insurance posted a positive return of 1.5 per cent.
Rupali Insurance Company Ltd rose 9.9 per cent to become the day’s top gainer, while Fu Wang Food Ltd fell 9.4 per cent becoming the worst sufferer.
Out of the 392 issues traded, 33 advanced, 131 declined and 228 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on red terrain, with its two major indices – the selected indices (CSCX), and the all-share price index (CASPI) – declining by 33.4 points and 56.2 points respectively.
