Profit-booking drags DSEX lower

The benchmark equity index retreated into the negative territory in the week to Thursday, snapping a two-week winning streak, as investors rushed to book profit on quick-gaining stocks.
Market operators said the risk-averse investors opted to realise their gains as many stocks saw significant price appreciation in the past two weeks after removal of floor price.
Although the market opened the week on a positive note, riding on the price appreciation of banks, the momentum failed to sustain in the remaining sessions amid sell-offs.
The benchmark DSEX index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) plummeted more than 37 points or 0.58 per cent to settle the week at 6,336, after gaining 216 points in the past two consecutive weeks.
Renata alone accounted for half of the weekly losses as the company saw 8 per cent price fall during the week to Tk 984.9 on Thursday. The drug maker saw 19 per cent correction since removal of the floor price.
Other top index draggers are Prime Bank, GPH Ispat, IFIC Bank, Unique Hotel & Resorts and ACI.
"The cautious investors realized profit after two consecutive weeks of gains and somewhat faded the reinstated investors' optimism," said EBL Securities, in its weekly analysis.
Investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to observe the market momentum and look out for lucrative investment opportunities following the corrections, said the stockbroker.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, shed 5 points to 1,382 while the DS30 Index, which consists of blue-chip companies, plunged nearly 19 points to 2,157.
The total turnover also dropped to Tk 74.40 billion this week as against Tk 84.75 billion in the week before.
Accordingly, the average daily turnover fell to Tk 14.88 billion, which was 12 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 16.95 billion.
The pharmaceutical sector kept its dominance on the turnover chart, capturing 18 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by engineering (12 per cent) and banking sector (10.4 per cent).
Most major sectors faced price correction while the engineering sector saw the highest loss of 5.30 per cent, followed by ceramic, non-bank financial institutions, power and general insurance.
On the other hand, travel & leisure saw the highest price appreciation as the newly listed Best Holdings saw a 28 per cent price hike, followed by IT and banking.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 398 issues traded, 309 saw price erosion, 73 closed higher and 16 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Best Holdings became the most traded shares, with shares worth Tk 2.95 billion changing hands, followed by Orion Infusion (Tk 2.76 billion), Fortune Shoes (Tk 1.97 billion), IFIC Bank (Tk 1.85 billion) and Fu-Wang Ceramic (Tk 1.68 billion).
Recently listed Sikder Insurance was the day's top gainer, posting a 59.55 per cent rise while Western Marine Shipyard was the worst loser, shedding 15.76 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also returned to the red with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) losing 5 points to close at 18,290 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) shedding 1 point to 10,950.
Of the issues traded, 225 declined, 101 advanced and 26 others remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 51.46 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 1.58 billion.

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