Stocks slipped into the red Sunday after four session's gains with lower turnover as profit booking attitude of the investors generated selling pressure later part of the trading session.
The market opened with a positive note, but could not sustain. At the end of the session, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) --- DSEX ended at 4,588.78 points, shedding 32.43 points or 0.70 per cent.
The other two indices also closed lower. The DS30, comprising blue chips lost 10.06 points or 0.60 per cent to close at 1,660.08 points. The DSE Index (DSES) went down by 4.19 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 1,004.27 points.
Market liquidity remained dry after last week's decent improvement. The total turnover on the DSE came down to Tk 4.61 billion, registering 10.9 per cent decline over the previous session's value of Tk 5.18 billion.
"The market witnessed a downbeat session after adding 143 points in last four sessions. Profit booking attitude of the investor's generated selling pressure as the session progressed," commented International Leasing Securities, in its daily market analysis.
News regarding merger between Lafarge Surma Cement and Holcim created positive impact on overall cement sector, said the International Leasing Securities.
"Benchmark index DSEX retreated on the first day of the week with an intermittent correction as last week market rallied backing on increased trade volume on large cap stocks," commented Lankabangla Securities.
Intraday trading saw a day's high of 4,643 points in morning, but sell off on bank, textile and fuel & power stocks trimmed some gain in last hour of trading, said the stock broker.
Among the major company news on newspapers, Lafarge Surma Cement and Holcim are moving ahead for the industry's biggest amalgamation - worth of $50 billion, it said.
"Market went backtrack after staying positive for four consecutive sessions. As DSEX accumulated 143 points within this rally, investors prompted for realizing quick profit Sunday," said IDLC Investments.
"After four days, market faced little bit correction which is not so significant to disrupt the bullish trend of the market for future. The major averages dipped lower after closing higher for four consecutive sessions," said Zenith Investments.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 293 issues traded, 173 advanced, 83 declined and 37 issues closed unchanged on the DSE floor.
