Stocks drifted lower on Tuesday after a single-day break as risk-averse investors opted for booking profits on quick-gaining stocks.
The market opened on an upbeat note and the key index of the major bourse in Bangladesh rose 25 points within the first 30 minutes of trading. But the rest of the session went down steadily and wiped out all the initial gains amid profit booking sell-offs.
Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 21.25 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at 4,982.
Market operators said stocks faced correction further as cautious investors grabbed profits on large-cap issues, especially from banking and cement issues which saw substantial gains in recent price surge.
However, bargain hunters continued to show their buying interest on the sector-wise stocks amid positive expectations regarding the market, said a leading broker.
Two other indices of the DSE also ended lower.
Of them, DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 7.47 points to finish at 1,705 and Shariah Index fell 5.52 points to close at 1,125.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, however, dropped to Tk 8.53 billion, which was 3.0 per cent lower than the previous session’s Tk 8.79 billion.
The losers outnumbered the gainers as out of 356 issues traded, 167 closed higher, 140 ended lower while 49 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total of 171,651 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a volume of 330.63 million shares and mutual fund units.
However, the market-cap on the premier bourse jumped to Tk 3,986 billion on Tuesday, from Tk 3,978 billion in the previous session.
Beximco topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 344 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco Pharma, Paramount Textile, Nitol Insurance and Sandhani Life Insurance.
Paramount Textile was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.92 per cent while United Airways was the worst loser, losing 7.69 to close its share at Tk 2.40 each.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) losing 37 points to close at 14,261 while the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) shedding 22 points to close at 8,560.
Of the issues traded, 136 declined, 112 advanced and 39 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 17.17 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 635 million
