Stocks slumped on Monday as the risk-averse investors opted for booking profits on major sector issues amid fear of further price erosion.
The market started on a positive note, but the morning optimism failed to sustain because of profit booking selling frenzy.
DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), slid 65.26 points or 0.93 per cent to settle at 6,926, lowest in four weeks since January 4, when the DSEX was 6,892.
The core index shed over 106 points in the last four consecutive sessions while it eroded nearly 170 points during the month of January.
Investors' appetite for shares of newly-listed Union Bank that entered into the fourth day of trading, wavered losing 0.75 per cent to close at Tk 13.20 on Monday.
The private commercial bank, which raised Tk 4.28 billion from the capital market under the fixed price method, made its share trading debut on Wednesday last.
Market analysts said the cautious investors continued to opt for booking profit on major sector stocks amid rising virus cases and on-going quarterly earnings declarations.
Even the companies that showed significant profit growth in its latest quarter earnings could not perform well in the market amid growing tension over rising virus cases, they said.
Large-cap stocks such as Beximco, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Robi, British American Tobacco and National Life Insurance, jointly contributed 29 points fall to the DSEX, according to amarstock.com, a market data analyst.
Some 69 listed companies published their quarterly financial statements on Monday. Of them, 39 posted higher growth in earnings per share (EPS) for July-December 2021 compared to the same period a year earlier.
Two other indices also drifted lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 26 points to finish at 2,559 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 9.27 points to close at 1,481.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 12.15 billion, which was 9.0 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 13.33 billion.
The financial institutions saw the highest loss of 1.90 per cent, followed by textile with 1.70 per cent, banking 0.60 per cent, power 0.60 per cent, pharma 0.60 per cent, food 0.40 per cent and engineering 0.40 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 380 issues traded, 264 declined, 72 advanced and 44 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
A total number of 272,471 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 305.17 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also dropped to Tk 5,569 billion on Monday, down from Tk 5,605 billion in the previous session.
Newly listed Union Bank was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 903 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco (Tk 651 million), Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 502 million), National Polymer (Tk 410 million) and Queen South Textile Mills (Tk 384 million).
Recently-listed BD Thai Food & Beverage was the day's top gainer, posting a 10 per cent rise while National Feed Mills was the worst loser, losing 8.78 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also nosedived with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 190 points to settle at 20,298 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-shedding 114 points to close at 12,194.
Of the issues traded, 228 declined, 54 advanced and 23 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port-city bourse traded 24.38 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 522 million.
