Stocks tumble amid sluggish turnover

Stocks plummeted Sunday with sluggish trading activities as investors were in the selling mood throughout the session, fearing a further fall.
Market operators said the market plunged as investors mostly refrained from injecting fresh funds into the market prior to announcement of monetary policy statement (MPS) scheduled to be unveiled today (Monday).
"Lower than expected earning declarations of some listed companies also contributed to the fall," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm, seeking anonymity.
Some 26 listed companies disclosed un-audited earnings of October-December, 2017 quarter on Sunday. Of them, earnings per share (EPS) of 13 companies increased while 13 declined compared to the same quarter of 2016.
The market started on a negative note, which continued till end of the session with no sign of reversal and it finally ended 71 points lower.
DSEX, core index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 6,144, slumping by 71 points or 1.14 per cent over the previous session.
According to Sheltech Brokerage, index was dragged down amid sharp correction of Grameenphone (GP), Square Pharmaceuticals and IFAD Autos.
GP, the largest market cap listed company faced 1.10 per cent correction to close at Tk 505.30 after hitting record high. Square Pharma and IFAD Autos also fell 1.60 per cent each after recent upsurge.
Two other indices of the premier bourse also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 23.54 points or 1.02 per cent to finish at 2,281 and DSES (Shariah) lost 17.89 points or 1.25 per cent to close at 1,413.
Bearish sentiment was also reflected on the trading activities as total turnover on the DSE fell to Tk 3.59 billion, which was 13 per cent lower than the previous day's Tk 4.12 billion.
Investors' attention was mostly concentrated on engineering, pharmaceuticals and banking sector, capturing 17 per cent, 16 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
"The market fell on the opening session of the week as bearish sentiment persisted right from the beginning until the end of the session ahead of the monetary policy declaration," commented AT Capital Partners, an asset management company, in an analysis.
EBL Securities, a stockbroker said, "The market started on negative tune and continued till the end as investors adopted cautious approach prior to the announcement of monetary policy statement".
Stocks from banking, telecommunication and pharmaceuticals sectors faced selling pressure.
CSE also closed lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CAPSI- shedding 193 points to settle at 18,967 and selective Categories Index - CSCX - falling 114 points to finish at 11,457 points.
The losers beat the gainers as 179 issues closed lower, 25 higher and 16 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 6.29 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 272 million in turnover.

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