Stocks slipped into the red on Tuesday, snapping a four-day rally, as cautious investors opted for booking profit on quick-gaining issues amid virus worries.
After crossing the key index 6200-mark in the previous day, the market started with the sell pressure which continued till the closure though the bargain hunters tried to reverse the morning trend.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 23.36 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 6,196, after gaining 227 points in the past four straight sessions.
The DSE Shariah Index also shed 1.99 points to close at 1,324. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 3.92 points to finish at 2,229.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 17.89 billion on the country's premier bourse, climbing further by 15.34 per cent over previous day's mark of Tk 15.51 billion.
Market operators said the retail investors opted for booking profit on sector specific stocks as the Covid-19 cases and deaths are rising alarmingly every day in the country.
The risk-averse investors went on sell-offs, particularly on banking, general insurance, food, engineering, telecom and textile sector stocks to make some profits, said a merchant banker.
According to EBL Securities said most of the investors exerted on selling pressure to book profit as the key index reached nearly 42-month high in the last session.
Besides, the uprising virus cases in the country kept investors mostly watchful, said the stockbroker.
The shaky investors preferred to book some gain amid upward trend of the coronavirus infections and deaths in the country, commented International Leasing Securities.
The stockbroker noted that most of the major sectors saw selling pressure which pushed down the benchmark index after hitting a 42-month high in the previous session.
However, the optimistic investors remained active on mutual fund, financial institution, cement and miscellaneous sector stocks, said the stockbroker.
Among the major sectors, general insurance saw the highest correction, losing 2.80 per cent, followed by banking with 1.20 per cent, textile 1.20 per cent, food 0.90 per cent, engineering 0.80 per cent and telecom 0.20 per cent.
On the other hand, mutual fund generated the highest return of 3.30 per cent, followed by financial institutions with 2.90 per cent and cement 1.60 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 374 issues traded, 224 ended lower, 142 higher while eight remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 276,089 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 751.64 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market capitalisation of DSE dropped to Tk 5,159 billion on Tuesday, from the previous day's all-time high of Tk 5,173 billion.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 973 million changing hands, followed by LankaBangla Finance (Tk 495 million), Aman Feed (Tk 484 million), Keya Cosmetics (Tk 425 million) and ML Dyeing (Tk 422 million).
Newly listed Sonali Life Insurance was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.91 per cent while Malek Spinning Mills was the worst loser, losing 7.12 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended marginally lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-losing 79 points to close at 17,956 while the Selective Categories Index - CSCX shedding 36 points to close at 10,782.
Of the issues traded, 166 declined, 134 advanced and 12 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 36.86 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 810 million.
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