Stocks slipped into the red on Wednesday, snapping a six-day gaining streak, as cautious investors rushed to lock in profits on quick-gaining issues during revised market hours.
As per the newly revised schedule, trading on the bourses started at 9:30am instead of 10:00am and closed at 1:50pm instead of 2:30pm.
The revised schedule came in line with the government's instructions to reschedule office timing in order to save electricity.
On the day, the benchmark equity index opened lower and the downward trend continued until the end of the session.
Finally, DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled 35.47 points or 0.56 per cent lower at 6,280, after gaining 167 points in the past six consecutive days.
Two other indices also edged lower. The blue-chip DS30 index dropped 21.67 points to finish at 2,243 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) fell 8.06 points to close at 1,379.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, also came down to Tk 11.34 billion on the prime bourse, which was 24 per cent lower than the previous day's seven-month highest turnover of Tk 14.87 billion.
Market analysts said stocks dropped, driven by profit-booking by retail investors following the recent upsurge.
"The market fell as some investors sold large-cap shares in the later part of the session," said a merchant banker.
Also, the news of resignation of Tarique Amin Bhuiyan as the managing director of the DSE on Tuesday dampened investor sentiment, he said.
After a six-day rally, the market witnessed some natural correction, creating some scope for investors to pour fresh funds and reposition their investment, said the merchant banker.
Some big-cap stocks such as Beximco, Beacon Pharma, LafargeHolcim, Olympic Industries and GPH Ispat jointly accounted for a fall of 17 points in DSEX, according to amarstock.com, a market data analyst.
The investors' concerns loomed, resulting from the possibility of a sluggish economic output due to the recent austerity measures taken by the government to reduce energy consumption, said EBL Securities.
The gaining momentum halted as the government instructed to reduce the working hours of government offices and banks, which exacerbated the concerns of jittery investors, enticing them to sell-off their holdings and book the profits, said the stockbroker.
Textile sector dominated the turnover list, capturing 17.70 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by pharma (15.30 per cent) and miscellaneous (8.60 per cent).
Most of the large-cap sectors faced corrections. The pharmaceutical sector saw the highest loss of 0.59 per cent, followed by power (0.50 per cent), engineering (0.42 per cent), food (0.35 per cent) and banking (0.22 per cent).
Non-bank financial institutions and telecom sectors gained 0.86 per cent and 0.01 per cent respectively.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers, as out of 380 issues traded, 215 closed lower, 71 higher and 94 others remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Orion Pharma became the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 772 million changing hands, followed by Beximco, IPDC Finance, Makson Spinning Mills and Metro Spinning Mills.
Union Capital was the day's top gainer, gaining 10 per cent while Jute Spinners was the day's worst loser, shedding 9.70 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) losing 66 points to settle at 18,503 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) falling 40 points to close at 11,088.
Of the issues traded, 137 declined, 75 advanced and 75 issues remained unchanged.
The port-city bourse traded 10.88 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 288 million.
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