Dhaka stocks fall after three days of gain

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FE Report
Dhaka stocks fell Thursday putting an end to the three days of rally amid low turnover.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) shed 16.45 points to close at 2676.82 while the All Shares Price Index (DSI) and the DSE20 blue chip index lost 13.90 points and 7.14 points to close at 2217.71 and 2259.25 respectively.
Trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) started in a buoyant mood, pushing the benchmark index up by around 40 points. Later, it shed some points until end of the trade.
Some investors remained skeptical about implementation of the securities regulator's measures while some others encashed their stocks to chase the securities of ACI Formulations Limited and Shinepukur Ceramics Limited expected to make debut Tuesday under direct listing regulations, according to stockbrokers.
These might be the main reasons behind the fall of the market Thursday, said a stockbroker, adding that a partial profit-taking also took place on the day after three days of rally.
On Tuesday last, after meeting with merchant banks, a spokesman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told the media that the commission was actively considering increasing soon the margin loan ratio for merchant banks and relaxing the margin loan exposure limit of non-bank financial institutions to improve the liquidity situation in the stock market.
Of the total 236 issues traded on the day, 64 gained, 163 declined and nine remained unchanged.
The day's total turnover declined to Tk 2.34 billion from Tk 2.67 billion (267 crore) Wednesday. The market capitalisation came down to Tk 965.52 billion from Tk 970 billion of the day before.
Beximco Pharma was the turnover leader with shares worth Tk 209.99 billion. Beximco Limited, ACI Limited, Titas Gas, GrameenS2 Mutual Fund, Uttara Bank, Lankabangla Finance, DESCO, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund and Dutch-Bangla Bank were the day's next turnover leaders in terms of value.
Top gainers of the day were Fine Foods, Meghna Shrimp, Fuwang Ceramic, Gachihata Aquaculture, Bionic Sea Food, Beach Hatchery, Rose Heaven, Niloy Cement, and Paper Processing.
Janata Insurance, Sreepur Textile, BD Thai Aluminum, City General Insurance, Golden Son, Phoenix Finance, Bengal Biscuits, Prime Insurance, Maq Enterprise and M Hossain Garments were the top losers on the day.