Profit hunting, cautious trading mark stock business

FE Report
The market slipped in the red Thursday with turnover remained sluggish as profit hunting and cautious trading approach by investors extended further.
The market opened higher like previous few sessions, but could not sustain. At the end of the session, DSEX the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange ended at 4,328.40, shedding 12.05 points or 0.27 per cent.
The other two indices also closed in red. The DS30, comprising blue chips lost 2.82 points or 0.17 per cent to close at 1,603.46 points while the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 6.94 points or 0.69 per cent to close at 992.97 points.
Participation too maintained its lethargic tone as the total turnover remained below Tk 3.0 billion for the third straight session. DSE turnover stood at Tk 2.66 billion which was 14.16 per cent higher compared to previous session's value of Tk 2.33 billion.
"Closing session of the week ended red since profit hunting and cautious trading styles by investors extended," said IDLC Investments, in its regular market analysis.
Affirmative sentiment could not build up as investors lack any confirmation of positivity. Sale pressure dominated, eroding investors' confidence, said the merchant bank.
"Investors continue to be in bearish mood and there is no apparent buying interest," said LankaBangla Securities.
The prime bourse index - DSEX - hovered between 4328-4340 level throughout the week showing the stagnant condition of the market, said International Leasing Securities.
However, the market breadth remained positive, as out of 298 issues traded, 138 advanced, 115 declined and 45 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
All the major sectors ended lower except NBFIs and Food going up by 0.64 per cent and 0.37 per cent respectively.
Telecommunications was the biggest loser as the largest sector of the market went down by 0.99 per cent. It was followed by pharmaceuticals and fuel and power which retraced 0.69 per cent and 0.21 per cent respectively. Banks lost 0.15 per cent.
Cement and engineering declined further like previous session with losing 2.54 per cent and 1.68 per cent respectively.
Life insurance stocks performed well with three of them featuring in the top ten gainers list and an overall sectoral gain of 2.19 per cent.
Activities increased in the major bourse (DSE) where trade and volume were up by 4.91 per cent and 5.05 per cent respectively. A total of 0.064 million trades were executed with 57.19 million securities of trading volume.
The market capitalization on DSE came down to Tk 2,866.16 billion against Tk 2,877.16 billion in the previous session.
Lafarge Surma Cement was the most traded stocks for the fourth sessions with shares worth Tk 309.62 million changing hands followed by GP, ACI, BSRM Steels and Square Pharmaceuticals.
Sandhani Life Insurance was the day's highest gainer, posting a rise of 7.08 per cent while Kohinoor Chemicals was the day's worst loser, slumping by 4.85 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed in red with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 7.34 points to close at 8,264.88 points.
Gainers beat losers 82 to 81, with 36 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 6.34 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 204.28 million.