Stocks witnessed a modest correction on Wednesday, spanning a two-day winning streak, as the risk-averse investors opted for booking profit on major sector issues.
The market opened sharply higher and the key index rose about 48 points, crossing 7,300-mark within the first 30 minutes of trading. But late hours selling pressure on general insurance, power, banking and telecom stocks wiped out the initial gain.
Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down 16.72 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 7,241, after gaining about 67 points in the past two straight sessions.
Two other indices also ended lower with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips.
It fell 12.79 points to finish at 2,673 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 4.44 points to close at 1,282.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, crossed Tk 21 billion-mark after three days and amounted to Tk 21.50 billion, which was 12.56 per cent higher than the previous day's tally of Tk 19.10 billion.
Market analysts said stocks posted modest correction as cautious investors opted for booking profit on major sector stocks following the recent price surge.
The government decision to cut interest rates on new savings certificates investments also failed to prop up stocks, they said.
As the stock index is hovering around the highest points and many stock prices soared substantially, investors are taking their profits, said a merchant banker.
Investors are also rebalancing their portfolios ahead of dividend declaration, he said. "This is a good sign for a healthy stock market", he said.
The investors' sell-off was observed across the major sectors as majority investors exhibited profit booking attitude, commented International Leasing Securities. Among the major sectors, general insurance suffered most, losing 1.90 per cent, followed by cement with 1.20 per cent, power 0.60 per cent, food 0.50 per cent, banking, financial institutions and telecom 0.40 per cent each.
On the other hand, engineering, mutual fund, textile and pharma sectors gained 1.20 per cent, 0.70 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.20 per cent respectively.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 376 issues traded, 209 ended lower, 125 higher and 42 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Orion Pharma was the most-traded stocks with shares worth Tk 1.33 billion changing hands, followed by Beximco (Tk 989 million), Makson Spinning Mills (Tk 665 million), Beximco Pharma (Tk 611 million) and Delta Life Insurance (Tk 591 million).
CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund was the day's top gainer, rising 9.72 per cent while Desh Garments was the worst lower, losing 6.30 per cent.
A total number of 275,863 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 522.88 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also fell to Tk 5,761 billion on Wednesday, down from Tk 5,770 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 82 points to settle at 21,157 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX- shedding 52 to close at 12,693
Of the issues traded, 171 declined, 115 advanced and 34 remained unchanged on the CSE. The port-city bourse traded 21.37 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 623 million.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
