The core index of the major bourse on Wednesday dipped below the 6,200-mark, as cautious investors were on selling spree on large-cap stocks.
Market insiders said price correction of some large-cap issues, like Grameenphone, Square Pharma, Brac Bank and Islami Bank, were responsible for the market fall.
"The small investors remained cautious about fresh exposure to the market, while institutional investors followed 'wait-and-see' strategy ahead of year-closing, taking the core index below 6,200-mark once again," said an analyst.
The market started on a positive downward note, and the downturn sustained till the end of the session with no sign of reversal. Finally, DSE core index fell more than 32 points at closing.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 32.17 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 6,196 after two days gain.
EBL Securities, a stockbroker, said, "Investors opted to register quick-gain for selling their holdings. Furthermore, investors remained watchful ahead of year-end corporate declaration from listed companies."
The stockbroker noted that the investors exerted selling pressure on stocks from banking, telecommunication and fuel & power sectors issues.
The two other indices finished lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips fell 12.71 points or 0.57 per cent to close at 2,231. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 5.52 points or 0.40 per cent to finish at 1,365.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, however, rose 10 per cent to Tk 5.12 billion, compared to the previous day's turnover of Tk 4.65 billion.
According to International Leasing Securities, "The profit booking sell pressure mostly initiated from banking sector stocks as the sector witnessed buoyancy in the last two sessions."
The stockbroker noted that investors also booked profit in telecom, fuel & power and textile sectors.
Most of the large-cap sectors showed negative performance with banking posted the highest loss of 1.02 per cent, followed by power 0.99 per cent, telecommunication 0.79 per cent, non-bank financial institutions 0.29 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.24 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 331 issues, 180 closed lower, 106 closed higher and 45 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
The state-run National Tubes topped the day's turnover chart with shares of nearly Tk 184 million changing hands, closely followed by Square Pharmaceuticals, Alif Manufacturing Company, Grameenphone and City Bank.
The second bourse -- Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) -- also closed lower with CSE All Shares Price Index of losing 115 points to finish at 19,176.
The Selective Categories Index of the port city bourse -- CSCX -- also lost 68 points to settle at 11,591 points.
Losers beat gainers as 142 issues closed lower, 66 closed higher and 35 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 12.62 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 439 million in turnover.
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