Turnover on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) came down to Tk 3.28 billion Sunday, hitting seven and a half months low, as investors were mostly reluctant to take fresh exposure in the market.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, fell 14 per cent to Tk 3.28 billion, compared to the previous session's Tk 3.81 billion.
It was the lowest single-day transaction in the prime bourse since May 30, 2017 when turnover was recorded at Tk 3.81 billion.
Dealers said the ongoing pessimism coupled with upcoming monetary policy issue kept investors mostly inactive, bringing the turnover to more than seven months low.
"The investors were not confident enough to take fresh position in the stocks and mostly refrained from injecting fresh funds into the market fearing that the Bangladesh Bank (BB) would tighten the credit growth," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
The central bank plans to rein in liquidity flow by cutting advance deposit ratio (ADR) to avert inflationary risk amid high growth in the private sector and the ADR issue put a damper on the capital market.
The market started on negative note which continued till end of the session with no sign of reversal, finally ended more than 61 points lower.
DSEX, the core index of the DSE, went down by 61.42 points or 0.99 per cent to settle at more than two months low at 6,118. It was the lowest level of DSEX since November 6, 2017.
"Prior to the monetary policy announcement for second half of FY 2018, many investors remained cautious and preferred to be on the sidelines to watch next direction of the market," commented EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its regular market analysis.
The two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips fell 17.74 points or 0.78 per cent to finish at 2,242. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also lost 7.22 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 1,384.
According to International Leasing Securities, the stock market observed notable price correction amid lowest investors' participation after May 30, 2017.
The stockbroker noted stocks from almost all the sectors edged lower, where sell pressure in bank, financial institution and engineering sector stocks contributed in notable fall in indices.
Among the major sectors, textile posted the highest correction of 1.80 per cent, followed by banking with 1.60 per cent, cement 1.20 per cent and non-bank financial institutions lost 1.10 per cent.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 335 issues traded, 253 closed lower, 48 closed higher and 34 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Bangladesh Thai Aluminium topped the DSE turnover chart with 4.44 million shares worth Tk 139 million changing hands, followed by IFAD Autos, National Tubes, Keya Cosmetics and Square Pharmaceuticals.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CAPSI- losing 183 points to close at 18,916.
The Selective Categories Index - CSCX - also fell 112 points to close at 11,424.
Losers beat gainers as 175 issues drifted lower, 44 nudged higher and 21 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The second bourse of the country traded 6.53 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 164 million in turnover.
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