DSE turnover dips below Tk 2.0b-mark

The market extended losing streak for the fifth session Monday with turnover plunging below Tk 2.0 billion mark after six-week as investors followed 'wait-and-see' strategy amid cautious stance.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSEX) went down below 'psychological' threshold of 4,400 points and ended at 4,376.77, shedding 34.38 points or 0.77 per cent.
The other two indices also closed in negative. The DS30, comprising blue chips lost 8.70 points or 0.53 per cent to close at 1,603.52 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) declined 5.77 points or 0.57 per cent to close at 992.00 points.
Turnover at DSE hit 6-week low to below Tk 2.0 billion mark. Total turnover value stood Tk 1.92 billion which was 11 per cent lower over previous session's value of Tk 2.15 billion.
"The investors' prolonged their tremulous sentiment which resultantly squeezed the participation level further," commented International Leasing Securities, in its regular market analysis.
"Investors were in bearish mood, breaching the 'psychological' level of 4,400 as investors' ditched shares after straight five days of tumble," said LankaBangla Securities.
"Investors still prefer to remain on the sideline and observe market movement," said the stock broker.
The negative tone in market extended to fifth session. As a result, the combined loss of 110 points dragged DSEX below 4,400 'psychological' level after seven sessions, said IDLC Investments.
"Expectations on pending monetary policy statement (MPS) and year-end declarations due in June couldn't create any noticeable stir in the market," said the merchant bank.
Recent correction from 4,800 points level has caused serious wound in investors' purchasing power, disabling them further fresh fund injection. So, investors were waiting for perfect confirmation of upbeat reversal, said the merchant bank.
"The persistent and prolonged caution amid investors kept overall market activity in a declining mood," the merchant bank added.
Zenith Investments said: "It seems that market may stay down during most of Ramadan's period as most people would spend money for the upcoming Eid festival than indulging themselves into capital market investments".
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 296 issues traded, 176 declined, 82 advanced and 38 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Among the major sectors, only telecommunication closed in green with mere 0.41 per cent gain.
Food and allied lost the most with 1.32 per cent. Pharmaceutical, fuel and power lost 0.58 per cent and 0.50 per cent respectively. In the financial sector - banks and NBFIs - lost 0.61 per cent and 0.14 per cent respectively.
Activities decreased in the major bourse (DSE) where trade and volume were down by 4.49 per cent and 15.83 per cent respectively. A total of 0.058 million trades were executed with 53.46 million securities of trading volume.
The market capitalization on the DSE stood at Tk 2,889.38 billion against Tk 2,903.74 billion in the previous session.
Beximco Limited was the most traded stocks with shares worth Tk 165.55 million changing hands followed by Appollo Ispat, Lafarge Surma Cement, BSC and GP.
Engineering, miscellaneous and pharmaceuticals sectors got the investors' attention and accounted for 14.59 per cent, 14.28 per cent and 11.38 per cent of day's total turnover value.
IFIL Islamic Mutual Fund-1 was also the day's highest gainer, posting a rise of 4.58 per cent while Jute Spinners was the day's worst loser, slumping by 8.14 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed lower with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 58.00 points to close at 8,345.17 points.
Losers beat gainers 140 to 37, with 25 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 6.38 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 194.82 million.