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Stocks extend losses as major sectors slump

Fortune Shoes grabs 20.6pc turnover on DSE


FE REPORT | February 16, 2022 00:00:00


Stocks extended the losing streak for the second straight session on Tuesday as the cautious investors continued to opt for booking profit on major sector issues.

The market opened on a positive note and the core index gained about 29 points within the first 50 minutes of trading. But, the positive trend failed to sustain amid profit booking tendency among investors.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), slid 23.96 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 7,036. The benchmark index lost around 53 points in the past two straight sessions.

Market analysts said the cautious investors continued to realise gain on sector specific large-cap stocks while some rebalanced their portfolios based on latest earnings declarations.

Lower-than-expected corporate declarations of some of the leading companies during the trading hours also prompted the investors to book profit, according to a merchant banker.

IDLC Finance has recommended 15 per cent cash and 5.0 per cent stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2021. Its earnings per share fell by 16.82 per cent year-on-year to Tk 5.34 for the year ended on December 31, 2021.

Accordingly, its share price plunged by 2.20 per cent to close at Tk 57.70 each on Tuesday.

Green Delta Insurance declared a 30 per cent cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2021.

The non-life insurer has reported consolidated earnings per share of Tk 8.43 for the year ended December 31, 2021 as against Tk 6.66 (adjusted) for the same period of the previous year.

However, the company's share price plunged by 4.76 per cent to close at Tk 96 on Tuesday.

The selling spree of the cautious investors to liquidate some positions sharply pushed the stocks down, commented International Leasing Securities.

According to EBL Securities, stocks continued losing streak due to portfolio rebalancing.

Trading activities were a bit sluggish as most investors are on the sidelines, seeking opportunities to take new positions in potential stocks ahead of the December-end declaration session, said the stockbroker.

Price correction of some large-cap stocks such as Robi, British American Tobacco, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Beximco and IFIC Bank contributed to the market fall.

The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, also fell 7.87 points to finish at 2,589. However, the DSE Shariah Index saw a fractional gain of 0.15 point to close at 1,520.

Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 12.31 billion, which was 0.88 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 12.42 billion.

Major sectors showed negative performances with general insurance suffering the most of 2.10 per cent, followed by financial institutions (1.40 per cent), life insurance (1.20 per cent), banking (0.70 per cent), food (0.70 per cent), and telecom (0.50 per cent).

Engineering sector posted a 2.10 per cent rise riding on the sector heavyweight Walton which gained 3.58 per cent alone.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 379 issues traded, 221 declined, 112 advanced and 46 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.

A total number of 233,310 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 236.50 million securities.

The market capitalisation of the DSE dropped to Tk 5,645 billion on Tuesday, down from Tk 5,652 billion in the previous session.

Fortune Shoes, which captured 20.6 per cent turnover, was the most traded stock with shares worth over Tk 2.53 billion changing hands, followed by Beximco (Tk 553), Rahima Food (Tk 354 million), Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 326 million) and Orion Pharma (Tk 276 million).

Apex Foods was the day's top gainer, posting a 9.96 per cent rise while Bangladesh National Insurance was the worst loser, losing 5.01 per cent.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower for the second straight day with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 102 points to settle at 20,602 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-shedding 62 points to close at 12,370.

Of the issues traded, 182 declined, 83 advanced and 35 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port-city bourse traded 9.91 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 310 million.

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