FE Report
The bearish spell continued for the third running session Wednesday amid choppy trading as ongoing countrywide strike affected the investors' sentiment.
Amid the first day of two-day strike, the market opened with a mixed trend. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 5,017.22 points, shedding 47.92 points or 0.94 per cent.
The other two indices also closed in the red. The DS30, comprising blue chips lost 21.40 points or 1.13 per cent to close at 1,872.39 points. The DSE Shariah Index dropped 12.56 points or 1.05 per cent to close at 1,182.53 points.
The increased level of sell pressure amplified turnover to Tk 7.43 billion, which was 9.25 per cent higher over the previous session's value of Tk 6.80 billion.
The investors' attention was mostly concentrated on engineering, power and pharma - the sectors that accounted for 24.42 per cent, 21.62 per cent and 14.77 per cent respectively of the day's total turnover.
"The ongoing nation-wide blocked fostered fear among the investors," said IDLC Investments, in its regular market analysis.
Besides, getting the facts of recent quarter, investors reassessed market anatomy and focused on further re-balancing of their positions, the merchant bank said.
International Leasing Securities said: "The ongoing bearish sentiment in the stock market has stirred another downbeat session".
DSEX lost 156 points in the last three consecutive sessions due to the investors' gloomy outlook and brings down the key index to 5,000-level, it said.
"Price correction in some major stocks like GP, Square Pharma and Lafarge Surma Cement accelerated the plague," said the International Leasing.
"It was the day of testing the support level 5,050, while benchmark index was mostly red throughout the trading session," said LankaBangla Securities.
"Investors got spooked by the selling frenzy in market for straight three sessions. Weakness in financial stocks and Pharma and Power stocks hit the sentiment, while engineering stocks supported the market," the stock broker said.
Zenith Investments said: "Market is still reeling from the profit taking virus, unable to show any sign of recovery yet. Much of the contribution goes to recent political upheaval, and profit realization from local and foreign investors as well.
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