Stocks extended the losing streak for the second straight session Wednesday as investors continued to sell shares due to lack of confidence in the market.
Brokers said the market fell further as sellers became active on sector-wise stocks in the final hour of the trading session.
DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 30.79 points or 0.57 per cent to settle at 5,361.
The two other indices also finished lower with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell more than 2.37 points to close at 1,988 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 11 points to finish at 1,251.
"The market could not come out of the bearish trend amid lack of investors' confidence," Khairul Bashar Abu Taher Mohammed, chief executive officer of MTB Capital, told the FE.
He said the institutional investors, particularly merchant banks, could not support the market due to the banks' exposure limit.
"The ongoing pessimism coupled with foreign investors' selling pressure dragged the market further down," said Mr Bashar, also secretary general of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA).
In nine trading sessions, from May 3 to May 15, the overseas investors bought shares worth Tk 1.73 billion but sold shares worth Tk 2.93 billion, resulting in their net position to become negative by Tk 1.20 billion, the DSE data shows.
In April, net portfolio investment was also negative by Tk 247 million.
The turnover, another important indicator of the market, rose 11 per cent to Tk 4.88 billion.
"Bearish mode extended as investors remained cautious due to a number of issues, including widening of current account deficit, liquidity crisis and upcoming budget," commented EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its regular market analysis.
"The capital market continued to slide amid low investors' confidence," said International Leasing Securities, in an analysis.
It noted that the shaky investors started selling shares from the beginning of the session and continued till the end while the optimistic ones tried to reverse the bearish momentum in the mid-session.
Most of the major sectors witnessed correction. The engineering sector lost 1.20 per cent while telecommunications gained 1.0 per cent.
The prices of 70 per cent traded issues declined as out of 329 issues traded on the day, 230 closed lower, 60 closed higher and 39 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
BRAC Bank topped the DSE turnover chart with shares worth Tk 289 million changing hands, closely followed by Intraco Refuelling Station, Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills, Queen South Textile and Legacy Footwear.
Intraco was also the day's highest gainer, posting a gain of 9.39 per cent while Jamuna Bank was the day's worst loser, losing 20.52 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CAPSI - losing 29 points to settle at 16,610 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - shedding 18 points to finish at 10,046 points.
The losers beat the gainers 131 to 58, with 24 issues remaining unchanged.
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