Stocks suffered losses for the fourth straight session on Wednesday as jittery investors continued their sell-offs ahead of the monetary policy statement and Eid festival.
The Bangladesh Bank is set to unveil its monetary policy on Sunday. Most investors preferred to stay cautious while some offloaded their holdings ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, according to market insiders.
Although the market showed a positive trend initially, the indices failed to keep the momentum after the mid-session due to heavy sale pressure on sector specific stocks.
Insurers, which in recent weeks dominated the gainers' chart while pulling the broad index, have continued to bleed.
Of the 10 top losers, nine were insurers. The life insurance sector suffered the most with a loss of 4.40 per cent.
At the end of the session, the DSEX, prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went down 24.15 points to settle at 6,274. It lost 78 points in the past four trading days.
Market operators said that despite the market being afloat at the start, the subsequent dominant sell pressure by cautious investors led the market to dip into the red further.
Many investors weigh monetary policy to assess possible liquidity flow in the market to decide whether to inject fresh funds.
Also, some are closely examining the draft income tax bill 2023 placed in parliament on June 8 before making any fresh investment in the market.
EBL Securities said stocks bled for the fourth consecutive session owing to the depressed market sentiment and confidence crisis as concerns intensified regarding the market outlook ahead of the upcoming monetary policy statement.
"The market experienced a downward trend further as investors continued to sell off their holdings in order to protect their funds and minimize their losses from the ailing market."
According to International Leasing Securities, investors are being watchful as they fear that market momentum will wane due to the expected increase in interest rates in the upcoming monetary policy statement.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 7.23 billion on the country's premier bourse, rising 8 per cent over the previous day.
The DS30 Index, which consists of blue-chip companies, dropped 4.42 points to 2,181 and the DSES Index, which represents Shariah-based companies, shed 5.06 points to 1,364.
Most of the stocks saw price erosion as out of 337 issues traded, 117 closed lower, 45 higher and 175 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Navana Pharma became the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 449 million changing hands, followed by Meghna Life Insurance, Advent Pharma, Rupali Life Insurance and Sea Pearl Beach Resorts.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) losing 72 points to settle at 18,548 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) shedding 43 points to close at 11,095.
The port city's bourse traded 3.92 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 157 million.
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