Stocks witnessed mild correction on Wednesday, after staying positive in the past four sessions, as investors booked profits ahead of the Eid festival.
Only four trading sessions are left ahead of Eid vacation as bourses will remain closed for five days - September 23 to September 27 -- on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.
The market opened higher in the morning, but failed to sustain the momentum. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dropped below the 4,800-mark and settled at 4,796.81, shedding 4.99 points or 0.10 per cent.
"Market again failed to hold ground after reaching 4,800 points level in a four day's gaining streak, reflecting investors' lack of any serious conviction on the overall market," said IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, in an analysis.
The merchant bank said that most of the issues that brought market up in recent days faced correction, which might be a part of consolidation, due to some investors' liquidation ahead of Eid festival.
Turnover, however, improved slightly to Tk 4.27 billion, which was 1.67 per cent higher than the previous session's Tk 4.20 billion.
Engineering, pharma and power sectors grabbed the investors' attention most, which captured 23 per cent, 13 per cent and 11 per cent of the day's total turnover.
The activity from the participants remained shaky and the daily market turnover remained almost flat as 'watch-and-see' stance prevailed among the investors.
"Buying of shares in bank and engineering sectors sustained, but profit booking on cement, pharmaceuticals and telecommunication sectors contributed to the marginal fall in indices," said International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker.
Lankabangla Securities, a stockbroker, said, "The early weakness was due to profit taking, with traders cashing in on stocks ahead of vacation for Eid-ul-Azha".
The stockbroker noted that although investors seemed reluctant to make significant move, they were watching the first quarter economic data of FY'15.
MTB Capital Ltd, a merchant bank said, "Initial buoyancy created vibration in the market, but sale pressure ahead of Eid festival faded away gradually and market observed see-saw for quite long in the trading session".
Among the major sectors, bank and engineering increased 0.38 per cent and 1.07 per cent respectively, while cement, textile and telecommunication were down 1.32 per cent, 0.43 per cent and 0.27 per cent respectively.
The losers took a lead over the gainers as out of 320 issues traded, 166 closed lower, 108 higher and 46 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
United Airways was the day's turnover leader with shares of Tk 243.80 million changing hands, followed by Islami Bank, BSRM, BSRM Steels and Quasem Drycells.
Quasem Drycells was the day's best performer, posting a rise of 9.26 per cent while Meghna Condensed Milk was the day's worst loser, plunging by 6.81 per cent.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed in the red with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 5.49 points to end at 8,939.22.
Losers beat gainers on the port city bourse that traded 9.14 million shares and mutual fund units with a value of Tk 280.56 million.
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