The stock market extended its losing streak for the second straight session Monday amid persistent volatility as investors were mostly cautious to put fresh funds in stocks ahead of the Eid festival.
The market went through high volatility for the past few trading days while Bangladesh Bank's tighter monetary policy statement made investors more cautious.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 12.90 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 6,346. The core index lost over 30 points in the past two days.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, remained low and amounted to Tk 6.62 billion, which was 1.07 per cent higher than the previous day's tally of Tk 6.55 billion.
Market analysts said the retail investors continued their sell-off to pull out money ahead of Eid festival as only three trading days are left before Eid vacation.
The central bank declared a relatively contractionary monetary policy and investors have continued their cautious stance amidst ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, said a leading broker.
The central bank increased the repo rate by 50 basis points that may adversely impact the money flow to the capital market, he said.
Besides, the country's economy has been facing pressure from rising inflation and depreciation of local currency in recent months.
Stocks extended its losing streak amid a tighter money market situation, according to International Leasing Securities.
"The uncertainty still exists over the local and global economy and the high inflationary pressure also results in a confidence crisis among the investors," said the stockbroker.
The prolonged bearish sentiment kept investors engaged in continued offloading of shares, said EBL Securities.
"Investors' concerns loomed around increased import costs and currency volatility, and the central bank continued to release dollars into the market, which may lead to a shortage of liquidity in the money market," said the stockbroker.
Meanwhile, share price of leading telecom operator Grameenphone (GP) kept losing and dropped further by 1.97 per cent to close at Tk 282.60 on Monday.
The largest market-cap listed company's share plunged almost 6.0 per cent in the past three days after the telecom regulator banned it from selling new SIMs due to failure to provide quality service.
However, Robi shares jumped 9.97 per cent further to close at Tk 36.40 on Monday as investors expected good business prospects ahead after the telecom regulator banned GP from selling new SIMs.
The second largest telecom operator's stock jumped over 27 per cent in the past three days and it was also the most-traded stock on the day at the DSE.
The DS30 Index, which consists of the blue-chip companies, also dropped 7.26 points to close at 2,284. However, the DSES Index, which represents Shariah-based listed firms, saw a fractional gain of 0.41 point to finish at 1,385.
Major sector witnessed mixed performances. General insurance saw the highest loss of 0.80 per cent, followed by banking with 0.60 per cent, engineering 0.30 per cent, power 0.30 per cent, food 0.20 per cent, and pharma 0.10 per cent.
On the other hand, telecom posted the highest gain of 1.50 per cent backed by Robi which surged 9.97 per cent, followed by cement with 1.40 per cent, textile 0.70 per cent and financial institutions 0.10 per cent.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 381 issues traded, 182 declined, 149 advanced and 50 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Robi Axiata was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 278 million changing hands, closely followed by Shinepukur Ceramics (Tk 242 million), Meghna Insurance (Tk 238 million), Intraco Refueling Station (Tk 228 million) and Beximco (Tk 190 million).
Zaheen Spinning was the top gainer, posting a 10 per cent gain while Trust Bank was the day's worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing nearly 5.0 points to settle at 18,693 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -shedding almost 5.0 points to close at 11,204.
Of the issues traded, 128 declined, 123 advanced and 40 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 10.86 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth nearly Tk 284 million.
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