Stocks extended the losing streak for the second straight session on Monday as cautious investors continued their selling binge amid growing tension over rising virus cases.
DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 53.74 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 7,019. The core index lost over 86 points in the past two consecutive sessions.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, shed 15.18 points to finish at 2,614 and the Shariah Index (DSES) lost 3.08 points to close at 1,505.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, dropped further and amounted to Tk 12.14 billion, which was 18 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 14.82 billion.
Meanwhile, BD Thai Food & Beverage made a flying trading debut on Monday as its shares were frozen at 10 per cent upper limit circuit breaker after a few minutes of trading.
The company's share closed at Tk 11 each on the DSE, soaring 10 per cent, the highest allowable limit on its issue price of Tk 10 each.
Some 11 trades were executed with a total of 265 shares changing hands at the halted price as most of the IPO shareholders were unwilling to sell their stakes hoping for higher profit in future.
On the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), the company's share also rose 10 per cent to close at Tk 11 each. Only one trade was executed with 26 shares changing hands on the CSE.
The company's share was halted within a few minutes of trading as investors rushed to buy its shares. But no sellers were seen on the trading board.
BD Thai Food raised Tk 150 million for purchasing machinery and equipment, developing land, completing construction of a new factory building.
Large-cap stocks such as Beximco, Beximco Pharma, Walton, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh and Robi, jointly accounted for 34 points fall to the DSEX, according to amarstock.com, a market data analyst.
Profit booking tendency among investors made the stocks close in the negative territory for the second consecutive day, according to International Leasing Securities.
The rising virus cases prompted many investors to sell-off stocks to realise capital gain while few sector-specific issues seemed to gain investors' attention ahead of earning declarations, commented EBL Securities.
Major sectors faced corrections. Financial institutions saw the highest loss of 1.60 per cent, followed by power (1.20 per cent), engineering (1.0 per cent), banking (0.20 per cent), telecom (0.20 per cent), and pharma (0.10 per cent).
Food and cement sectors gained 1.40 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively.
Prices of 71 per cent traded issues closed in the red, as out of 380 issues traded, 270 declined, 71 advanced and 29 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, which lost 6.04 per cent, was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 1.13 billion changing hands, followed by Beximco (Tk 981 million), Power Grid Company (Tk 367 million), BATBC (Tk 323 million) and Fu-Wang Food (Tk 322 million).
BD Thai Food & Beverage was the day's top gainer, posting a 10 per cent gain while the ACME Pesticide was the worst loser, losing 7.32 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -shedding 149 points to settle at 20,552 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-losing 89 points to close at 12,346.
Of the issues traded, 213 declined, 63 advanced and 35 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port-city bourse traded 10.97 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 385 million.
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