Stocks suffered a setback yet again Wednesday after previous day's impulse with turnover hitting fresh four months low as ongoing pessimism kept investors mostly inactive in the market.
The market opened with a positive note, but could not sustain. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) plunged 47.83 points or 0.99 per cent to finish at 10-week low at 4,756.61 points.
The other two indices also saw sharp decline. The DS30, comprising blue chips lost 19.40 points or 1.09 per cent to close at 1,752.08 points. The DSE Shariah Index dropped 11.02 points or 0.98 per cent to close at 1,108.702 points.
Trading at DSE remained sluggish as it continued to hover with around Tk 3.0 billion for the last four sessions. The total turnover amounted to Tk 3.12 billion, registering a decline of 10.08 per cent over the previous session's Tk 3.47 billion.
The investors' attention was mostly focused on power, pharma and engineering - the sectors that for 15.37 per cent, 13.57 per cent and 13.47 per cent respectively of the day's total turnover.
"The market suffered a major setback in the day's trading as the market failed to sustain previous session's positive momentum amidst further decline in the overall investors' participation," said International Leasing Securities in an analysis.
The market's unpredictability was at its peak as the early hike in DSEX slowly disappeared as the session progressed. Issues from large-cap and recently listed witnessed price correction amidst the investors' sell-off, said the International Leasing.
LankaBangla Securities said: "Market got back to negative territory after previous day's impulse. Lack of investors' participation at this price level is an alarming sign for the market".
"Broad market moved back to red, wiping out the marginal gain of last session. Turnover also dropped sharply which reflected muted enthusiasm from the market participants," said IDLC Investments.
"Investors seem to be making a careful observation about the market dynamics with a keen eye. The upcoming 62 per cent Fibonacci retracement of DSEX, along with several regulatory concerns is causing the market to take a pause," said Sheltech Brokerage.
Zenith Investments said: "It is important to keep in mind that volatility in the stock market is the norm and a healthy pause in a bull market always provides a chance for investors to buy stocks at a minimum rate".
However, junk shares in a bearish market will be tempting and will always try to divert investors' attention putting them in a risky situation, said the Zenith Investments.
Among the major sectors, food and allied was the only sector which ended positive with 0.22 per cent gain. The other large cap sectors closed lower.
Fuel and power registered the highest loss of the session of 2.34 per cent, followed by NBFIs which went down by 1.79 per cent. Telecommunication, banks and pharmaceuticals also retraced by 0.87 per cent, 0.61 per cent and 0.28 per cent respectively.
The losers took a lead over the gainers as out of 304 issues traded, 168 declined, 101 advanced and 35 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Activities decreased in the major bourse (DSE) where trade and volume were down by 7.38 per cent and 5.53 per cent respectively. A total of 0.074 million trades were executed with trading volume of 74.71 million securities.
The total market capitalisation on the DSE stood at Tk 3,146.72 billion against Tk 3,177.13 billion in the previous session.
Western Marine Shipyard was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 123.41 million changing hands followed by Jamuna Oil, Lafarge Surma Cement, Meghna Cement and Keya Cosmetic.
Hakkani Pulp & Paper was the day's highest gainer, posting a rise of 5.67 per cent while Kohinoor Chemical was the day's worst loser, slumping by 24.45 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - 87.60 points to close at 8,948.75 points.
Losers beat gainers 152 to 44, with 22 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 8.16 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 249.09 million.
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