Profit-taking, price correction drag down Dhaka stocks

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FE Report
All the indices of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed massive fall Monday due to price correction, as investors booked profit from the bullish market.
The market opened with a positive note, and the benchmark index of the DSE briefly crossed the 9000-mark for the first time in the morning, to lose the early gain of 238 points later, as the investors went for profit making on financial and energy stocks.
All the market barometers - indices, total turnover and total market capitalisation - fall sharply on the day. The benchmark DSE General (DGEN) closed at 8771.41 with a loss of 147.10 points or 1.65 per cent. It hit the highest 9009.88 and the lowest 8766.44 amid roller coaster trading.
The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) lost 122.68 points or 1.66 per cent to end at 7261.26, while the DSE 20 blue chip index shed 133.31 points or 2.46 per cent to end at 5295.98.
"Price correction on financial stocks that rallied over the last few sessions pulled the market down," said Akter H Sannamat, managing director of Prime Finance and Investment Ltd.
"The price correction was necessary, as the prices of some shares were rising abnormally, and price correction is a good sign for a sound market," he said.
"Profit-takers sent the market into the red on the day," market analysts said.
Share prices of almost all the major sectors declined. The banking sector, the market's bellwether, went down after several successive sessions of gain. All the banks, except City Bank and Rupali Bank, lost on profit taking, dealers said. Grameenphone, the most weighted shares in the DSE, lost slightly by 0.70 per cent.
Turnover shrank to Tk 27.10 billion, down by 16.60 per cent over the previous session. Stock prices of two-third of the issues traded on the day dropped, as out of 244 issues traded, 63 gained and 181 ended into the negative territory.
Among the gainers, the fuel and power sector saw significant increase in turnover. State-owned power company Titas Gas topped the turnover list, with shares worth Tk 1.18 billion changing hands and gaining 5.6 per cent on the day.
Other turnover leaders were Beximco Limited, AB Bank, UCBL, Southeast Bank, City Bank, Prime Bank, Standard Bank, Islami Bank, and Shinepukur Ceramic.
National Tubes was the highest gainer, posting a rise of 11.27 per cent, followed by Pharma Aid, ICB AMCL Islamic Mutual Fund, ICB AMCL First Mutual Fund, Phoenix Finance First Mutual Fund, Aftab Automobiles, DESCO, Titas Gas, Islami Insurance, and IFIC First Mutual Fund.
The prominent losers included Aziz Pipes, Desh Garment, Tallu Spinning, Standard Ceramic, CMC Kamal, Ambee Pharma, Republic Insurance, Sonali Aansh, and Provati Insurance.