Stocks decline on profit-taking ahead of GP debut

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FE Report
Dhaka stocks closed lower in the past week, ending nine weeks of bull-run as cautious investors booked profit ahead of the debut by giant Grameenphone.
In the week that ended on Thursday, the benchmark Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) General Index (DGEN) shed 30.66 points or 0.90 per cent to 3382.87, which came below 3400-mark for the first time in two weeks.
The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) finished at 2833.35 with a loss of 25.15 points or 0.88 per cent while the DSE-20 blue chips index lost 1.32 points or 0.06 per cent to 2285.26.
Profit-taking on a number of heavy weights was one of the main reasons behind market indices' decline during the week, dealers said. In addition, profit taking in DSE coincided with cautious trading ahead of the GP's share transaction, which will begin on Monday next on both the bourses.
"After the successive bullish weeks, the market witnessed profit-taking," said an analyst.
Dealers said the market fundamentals were strong and investors were attracted by good third quarter corporate results. But investors were cautious ahead of GP debut."
The investment sector or mutual fund was the biggest loser during the week as the chamber judge of the Supreme Court extended stay order of High Court's verdict on allowing mutual funds to issue rights and bonus shares by two weeks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prayed for the stay-order on HC's order.
Banking issues, the bellwether of the market, saw modest gain during the week, following positive third quarter results. Most of the sectors also ended in the negative.
The week's daily average turnover stood at Tk 9.60 billion, an increase of 5.12 per cent over the previous week.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 255 issues traded, 78 went into the positive territory, 165 into the negative and 12 were not traded.