Stocks posted a marginal fall Thursday, after five sessions of upward trend as investors booked profit centreing pharma, power and financial stocks.
The market started with a notable buying pressure, but could not sustain as profit booking threw the market into the red territory. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 9.51 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 4,864.45.
The two other indices also closed in the red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 2.92 points or 0.15 per cent to finish at 1,886.83. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 5.82 points or 0.48 per cent to end at 1,197.08.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, fell sharply to Tk 6.88 billion, which was 24 per cent lower than the previous session's Tk 9.02 billion.
The participants remained mostly concentrated on engineering, power and pharma-the sectors that accounted for 17 per cent, 16 per cent and 15 per cent of the day's total turnover.
International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, said, "The cautious stance sustained amid mixed perception regarding the market outlook. The activity from the participants also declined due to 'wait and see' stance from the investors".
The buying spell in engineering stocks failed to survive the market as pharma, financial institutions and fuel and power stocks witnessed correction in prices due to high profit booking sell-offs, said the stockbroker.
"Index actually fell slightly as sellers dominated most of the sectors," IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said in an analysis.
LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, said, "Index ended marginally lower amid consolidation on the last day of the week".
The stockbroker noted that all the major sectors ended red on profit booking. After making a strong move above 4,800 in the past few trading sessions, index is now resting on the current level for a pit stop before moving further.
"Most of the investors remained cautious as the market behaviour perplexed them to inject fresh fund," said MTB Capital Limited, a merchant bank, in its daily market analysis.
All large-cap sectors experienced correction, except telecommunication which closed flat. In the financial sector, NBFIs went through a correction of 1.64 per cent and banks went down by 0.38 per cent.
Pharmaceuticals lost 0.67 per cent. Cement retraced by 0.60 per cent. Fuel and power and food and allied sectors fell 0.48 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively.
The market breath, however, remained positive as out of issues traded, 144 closed higher, 134 lower and 43 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Activities lulled on the major bourse where trade and volume were down by 14 per cent and 27 respectively. A total number of 0.151 million trades were executed with trading volume of 173.72 million securities.
United Power Generation and Distribution Company was the day's top turnover leader with shares of Tk 373 million changing hands, followed by Islami Bank, Lafarge Surma Cement, United Airways and Bengal Windsor.
Anlima Yarn was the day's best performer, posting a rise of 9.04 per cent while LR Global first Mutual Fund One was the day's worst loser, plunging by 6.0 per cent.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed slightly lower with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 23 points to end the week at 9,080.
Losers beat gainers, with 39 issues remaining unchanged on the port city bourse that traded 15 million shares and mutual fund units valued at Tk 544 million.
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