DSEX dips below 4,900-mark

Amid weak market sentiment, stocks fell further on Tuesday, with the key index of the premier bourse dipping below 4,900-mark after two months. Investors remained in a cautious mode amid declaration of some corporate earnings.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dipped below the 'psychological' threshold of 4,900-point after September 18, shedding 18.60 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 4,898.82. DSEX shed 106.8 points in the last four consecutive sessions.
The other two indices also edged lower. DS30, comprising blue chips, dropped 15.04 points or 0.82 per cent to close at 1,814.93. DSE Shariah Index lost 6.23 points or 0.53 per cent to close at 1,150.34.
Turnover remained sluggish, and total turnover on DSE came down to Tk 6.27 billion, registering a decline of 9.26 per cent over the previous day's turnover of Tk 6.91 billion.
The investors mostly focused on power, engineering and pharma, the sectors that accounted for 25 per cent, 17 per cent and 15 per cent respectively of the day's total turnover.
International Leasing Securities said the market endured a typical bearish session, and the key index fell below 4,900-mark for the first time in the last two months with the investors left hanging with hopes of the market's U-turn.
Pessimism among the investors regarding the entire market situation also dragged the turnover, it added.  
"Stocks ended the day moderately below the flat line fading the morning gain, as the investors upheld their cautious mode amid declaration of corporate earnings," said LankaBangla Securities.
It also mentioned that several stocks, which declared earnings number late last week, have started reacting to their earnings. In near terms, economic factors are acting as main trigger for market movements.
Inflation is going down, so are interest rates. International oil prices have fallen significantly, which could be advantageous for corporate profitability due to better margins, the stock broker opined.
IDLC Investments said: "As DSEX continued remaining below 5,000-point mark 'psychological' level, fear condensed amid investors and subsequently taking toll on market movements".
Among the large cap sectors, only fuel and power closed positive with 0.65 per cent gain. Telecommunication lost the most of 1.37 per cent. NBFIs and pharmaceuticals retraced 0.67 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively. Banks as well as food and allied went down marginally by 0.07 per cent each.
Losers outpaced gainers, as out of the 305 issues traded, 147 declined, 125 advanced and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Activities decreased in the major bourse, where volume was down by 8.18 per cent, but trade increased by 1.3 per cent. A total of 0.132 million trades were executed with 132.95 million securities of trading volume.
The total market capitalization of DSE stood at Tk 3,267.36 billion against Tk 3,273.36 billion in the previous session.
The new issue - Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag - was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 588.97 million changing hands, followed by Jamuna Oil, Western Marine, SPCL and BEDL.
Khan Brothers was the day's highest gainer, posting a rise of 666 per cent, while BDCOM Online was the day's worst loser, slumping by 18.24 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also dropped for the 4th day with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 46.81 points to close at 9,243.24.
Losers beat gainers 1,140 to 64, with 20 issues remaining unchanged at the port-city bourse that traded 12.50 million shares and mutual fund units, with turnover value of Tk 512.73 million.

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