Stocks slipped back into the red on Monday, snapping 11-day winning streak, as risk-averse investors opted for quick-profit on selective issues.
The market opened on an upward trend and the key index of the prime bourse rose more than 35 points within the first 30 minutes of trading, but could not sustain the gain as the session progressed.
Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 12.10 points or 0.26 per cent to close at 4533, after adding 468 points in the past 11 straight sessions.
Market analysts said cautious investors booked quick-profit on sector-specific issues, which saw substantial gain the past few trading sessions, taking the prime index in downward trend.
However, two other indices kept gaining. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 3.79 points to finish at 1,544 and the DSE Shariah Index rose 5.60 points to close at 1,063.
Turnover remained high and amounted to Tk 10.48 billion on the country’s premier bourse, which was 7.0 per cent lower than the previous day’s mark of Tk 11.28 billion.
Most of the investors remained active on the market following the securities regulator’s several initiatives to develop the market and punished some wrongdoers, the gradual reopening of the economy and expansionary monetary policy encouraged investors to put fresh stakes on stocks, said a leading broker.
He noted that the investors’ confidence is growing as the country’s economy has been reopening gradually and some economic indicators are showing positive movements that eased concern among investors to some extent.
Of the issues traded, 111 advanced, 217 declined and 26 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
A total number of 214,716 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 370.12 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap on the premier bourse rose to Tk 3,454 billion on Monday, from Tk 3,451 billion in the previous session.
Beximco Pharma topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 411 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco, Square Pharma, SK Trims, and BATBC.
ICB Third NRB Mutual Fund was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 10.71 per cent while Shympur Sugar Mills was the worst loser, losing 8.73 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange closed a mixed trend with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—gaining 7.05 points to close at 12,889 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –shedding 0.86 points to finish at 7,800.
Of the issues traded, 113 gained, 144 declined and 26 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 18.34 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 598 million.
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