Stocks slipped into the red on Monday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as risk-averse investors went on selling binge on sector-wise issues.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 24.21 points or 0.50 per cent to close at 4,734, after adding 70 points in the five consecutive sessions.
Market analysts said cautious investors booked quick-profit on sector specific issues, which saw substantial gain the past five trading sessions, taking the market in downward trend.
Five large-cap stocks – Square Pharma, LafargeHolcim, United Power, Meghna Petroleum and Olympic Industries contributed the market fall, said a leading broker.
Two other indices also ended in the red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell sharply by 15.78 points to finish at 1,629 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 9.87 points to close at 1,067.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also fell to Tk 4.82 billion, which was 7.50 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 5.21 billion.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 346 issues traded, 194 closed lower, 124 ended higher and 28 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 137,833 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 228.59 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE also fell to Tk 3,558 billion on Monday, from Tk 3,569 billion in the previous session.
LafargeHolcim Bangladesh topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 138 million changing hands, closely followed by Premier Bank, Paramount Textile, IFIC Bank and Square Pharma.
Islami Bank was the best performer, posting a gain of 9.83 per cent while Makson Spinning was the worst loser, plunging by 8.92 per cent.
The port city’s bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 50 points to close at 14,409 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –shedding 33 points to finish at 8,748.
Here too, gainers beat losers as 93 issues closed lower, 22 ended higher and 26 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 11.64 million shares and mutual fund units worth nearly Tk 193 million in turnover.
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