The Dhaka bourse failed to stay in the green territory for the second session on Thursday as cautious investors preferred to realize gains from the recent rallies.
Green Delta Insurance, Pubali Bank, Pioneer Insurance Company, Bangladesh General Insurance Company and Gemini Sea Food were responsible for 2.6 points down of the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
As a result, the DSEX went down 0.90 points to settle at 6,310.
The market stayed afloat for most of the trading session as opportunistic investors continued their chase after hyped-up stocks for potential quick gains, but sell pressure mounted before the day's closing, causing the market to dip into negative territory, said EBL Securities in its regular market analysis.
The market has been bearish since the floor price was imposed more than a year ago, with some periodic upward movements that failed to sustain amid investors' confidence crisis.
Analysts say the prevailing floor price discourages investors, including the institutional ones, to put money in stocks. Uncertain economic outlook may be another reason as to why fresh investments are not coming in.
That compelled investors to focus on short-term bets, with their confidence in the market almost exhausted.
However, two other indices ended higher. The DS30 index, which consists of blue-chip companies, grew 5.21 points to 2,146, and the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, rose 2.97 points to 1,365.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 7.35 billion, a 14.04 per cent down from the previous day.
Investors were mostly active in the general insurance sector, which captured 34.4 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by the food & allied (12.9 per cent) and IT (8.2 per cent).
Most of the traded stocks saw price erosion. Out of 309 issues traded, 84 closed lower, 69 higher and 156 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Small-cap Union Insurance Company Limited kept its dominance on the turnover chart, with shares worth Tk 258 million changing hands, followed by Fu Wang Food, Gemini Sea Food, Metro Spinning, and Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa Limited.
BDCOM Online was the day's top gainer, posting a 9.97 per cent rise while United Insurance Company Ltd. was the worst loser, shedding 6.09 per cent.
Sectors displayed mixed returns with the IT showing the highest gain of 4.10 per cent as 9 out of 10 stocks of the sector climbed up.
That was followed by the travel and leisure sector with 2.10 per cent gain and the service sector with 1.70 per cent.
On the other hand, the general insurance and the life insurance sectors experienced moderate corrections.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) ended lower, with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) losing 8 points to settle at 18,664 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 5 points to close at 11,159.
Of the issues traded, 48 declined, 53 advanced and 62 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 4.72 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover volume of Tk 244.72 million.
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