The market extended the losing streak for the second straight sessions on Monday as shaky investors continued their profit booking on quick-gaining stocks.
The market swung between positive and negative several times before ending marginally lower due to profit booking sell-offs on sector-wise stocks.
The DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 22.43 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 6,013.
Market experts said the cautious investors continued to book profit on stocks that saw a significant gain in the past few trading days, taking the market into the red territory.
As the market was on a rising trend in the last few days, many stock prices were up by at least 10 per cent to 15 per cent, so investors are taking in their profits now, said a top broker.
Two other indices also ended lower with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, fell by 19.58 points to finish at 2,172 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 8.83 points to close at 1,284.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, dipped below a Tk 20 billion-mark after eight sessions and amounted to Tk 17.40 billion on the DSE, which was 16 per cent lower than the previous day’s mark of Tk20.69 billion.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 372 issues traded, 258 declined, 103 advanced and 11 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 1.12 billion changing hands, followed by NRB Commercial Bank (Tk 550 million), Pioneer Insurance (Tk 470 million), Lub-rref (Bangladesh) (Tk 459 million) and Fortune Shoes (Tk 406 million).
Index Agro Industries was the day’s top gainer, posting a 9.95 per cent gain while Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries was the worst loser, losing 7.62 per cent.
A total number of 277,100 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 548.85 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also dropped to Tk 5,053 billion on Monday, down from Tk 5,083 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 63 points to settle at 17,465 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 38 points to close at 10,516.
Of the issues traded, 198 declined, 90 advanced and 19 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 31.61 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 799 million.
