Stocks drift marginally lower after 4 sessions

Dhaka bourse on Tuesday closed marginally lower after the core index gained 398 points in previous four consecutive sessions amid announcement of some market supportive measures and stakeholders' subsequent meeting in this regard.
On the day, the DSEX, core index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), declined marginally as large-cap companies having impact on index performed mixed.
The turnover value crossed Tk 4.0 billion-mark following investors' active participation observed during mid-session.
The market opened the day's session negatively and the core index witnessed see-saw movement for 50 minutes.
Later, the DSEX rebounded but failed to sustain and closed the day's session with a marginal loss.
At the end of the session, the DSEX settled at 4408.11 with a loss of 0.58 per cent or 26.13 points.
The shariah based index DSES declined 0.71 per cent or 7.30 points to close at 1007.64.
The DS30 index comprising blue chip securities went down by 0.51 per cent or 7.74 points to close at 1507.14 points.
Of the major sector based on market capitalisation, telecommunication and pharmaceuticals declined 2.10 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.
These two sectors declined mainly because of price corrections witnessed by Grameenphone, Square Pharmaceuticals and Renata.
Prices of Grameenphone declined 1.83 per cent, Square Pharmaceuticals 0.36 per cent, BRAC Bank 0.39 per cent and Renata 0.09 per cent.
Listed multinational companies (MNCs) also performed mixed on Tuesday.
Of the companies, the share prices of Marico Bangladesh, RAK Ceramics, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Berger Paints Bangladesh and Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh) advanced marginally.
On the other hand, the share prices of Linde Bangladesh, Reckitt Benckiser (BD), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Bangladesh and Singer Bangladesh declined marginally.
Of 356 issues traded on the DSE, 79 advanced, 237 declined, and 40 remained unchanged.
The premier bourse DSE on Tuesday featured a turnover of above Tk 4.06 billion which was 17.76 per cent less than that of the previous session.
Of the major sectors which witnessed price correction, bank declined 0.3 per cent, engineering 1.3 per cent, fuel & power 0.3 per cent and textile 2.1 per cent.
Of the sectors which witnessed price appreciation, financial institutions advanced 3.5 per cent, and cement 1.1 per cent.
Investors' concentration was focussed mostly on pharmaceuticals & chemicals which grabbed 16.4 per cent of the market turnover followed by engineering 12.7 per cent and bank 10.8 per cent.
Of the turnover leaders, Square Pharmaceuticals featured a value of Tk 315 million followed by LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Tk 276 million, Grameenphone Tk 160 million, Khulna Power Company Tk 124 million and S. S. Steel Tk 114 million.

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