Stocks slipped into the red on Sunday, after remaining flat in the past two trading sessions, as late hours sell-offs wiped off early gains.
The market opened on an upbeat note and the key index rose 38 points within the first 25 minutes of trading riding on the news of interest rate cut on stock investment funds. But, late hours profit booking selling pressure eroded all the initial gains.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 7.16 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 4,971.
Meanwhile, Walton Hi-Tech Industries shares continued to soar as its price closed at Tk 609.50 on Sunday, soaring 7.50 per cent over the previous session.
The local electronics giant’s share price jumped Tk 357.50 or 142 per cent in the just three straight sessions on issue price of Tk 252 each. There were few sellers compared to buyers, for which its trade came to a halt at one point like the previous two days.
Market analysts said the cautious investors continued booking profit on majors sectors’ issues which saw substantial gains the past few weeks while optimistic investors took positions on lucrative stocks.
Top negative index contributors were Grameenphone, British American Tobacco, National Life, Beximco and Berger Paints, according to data from amarstock.com, a stock market data analyst.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gained 10.41 points to finish at 1,690 and the DSE Shariah Index fell 4.71 points to close at 1,121.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, crossed Tk 10 billion-mark after four sessions and amounted to Tk 10.34 billion, which was 17 per cent higher than the previous session’s Tk 8.81 billion.
Losers outnumbered the gainers as out of 357 issues traded, 210 closed lower, 106 ended higher while 41 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 205,197 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 391.66 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap on the premier bourse, however, rose to Tk 3,952 billion on Sunday, from Tk 3,946 billion in the previous session.
The insurance sector dominated the turnover chart with Sandhani Life Insurance topped the turnover list with shares worth nearly Tk 436 million changing hands, closely followed by Sonar Bangla Insurance, Beximco Pharma, LankaBangla Finance and Eastland Insurance.
Asia Pacific Insurance was the best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Ring Shine Textiles was the worst loser, losing 8.97 per cent following its factory closure news.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended marginally lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 16 points to close at 14,193 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 13 points to close at 8,510.
Of the issues traded, 156 declined, 104 advanced and 30 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 17.95 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 314 million
