Stocks drifted into the red on Wednesday, snapping an eight-day rally, as investors locked in profits on sector-wise shares.
Market analysts said a section of investors opted to book profits on stocks which saw sharp gains in recent price upsurge.
On the other hand, other investors went on a buying spree amid budgetary expectations, resulting in turnover remaining above Tk 5.0 billon-mark, said a leading broker.
The national budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, is set to be placed in parliament today (Thursday).
On Wednesday, the market opened on a negative note and the downward trend sustained until the end of the session with modest volatility.
Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled 6.35 points or 0.11 per cent lower at 5,469, after adding 225 points in the past eight straight sessions.
The International Leasing Securities noted that the shaky investors opted to liquidate their holdings of shares from power, telecom, textile, food and engineering sectors.
Two other indices also saw corrections. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 4.46 points to finish at 1,917 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 2.88 points to close at 1,241.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 5.22 billion, nearly 10 per cent down from the previous session's turnover of Tk 5.78 billion, a three-month high.
The investors mostly focused on the engineering sector that accounted for 15 per cent of total turnover, followed by the insurance sector (13 per cent) and the textile sector (10 per cent).
The non-bank financial institution posted the highest gain of 0.20 per cent, followed by pharmaceuticals (0.16 per cent), banking sector (0.04 per cent).
On the other hand, the power sector witnessed the highest loss of 0.97 per cent, followed by telecommunications (0.74 per cent), food (0.74 per cent) and engineering (0.40 per cent).
A total of 130,686 trades were executed in the day's trading session, with trading volume standing at 136.77 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also fell to Tk 4,015 billion on Wednesday from Tk 4,022 billion in the previous session.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 349 issues traded, 195 declined, 116 advanced and 38 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
The BBS Cables topped the turnover chart with 2.55 million shares worth Tk 262 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were the United Power, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, JMI Syringes and Eastern Housing.
Peoples Insurance was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Meghna Condensed Milk was the biggest loser, shedding 6.69 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended marginally lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - losing 38 points to settle at 16,735 while the Selective Categories Index -- CSCX -- settled 20 points lower at 10,140.
Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 137 issues closed lower, 81 higher and 38 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 7.60 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 221 million in turnover.
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