Stocks slipped into the red on Sunday, snapping a three-day rally, as Jittery investors rushed to book profits on major sector issues after the recent price surge.
The market remained positive in the first three hours of the trading session amid volatile trading, but the last-hour sell-off pushed the index down.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), finally settled by 21.72 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 6,538, after gaining 129 points in the past three trading days.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also dropped to Tk 16.92 billion on the premier bourse, which was 10 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 18.78 billion.
Market analysts said stocks fell marginally due to the profit-taking tendency of the investors on the recent quick-gaining stocks.
The risk-averse investors realized some profits on selective stocks as the DSE key index reached a nearly four-month high in the last session, said a merchant banker.
The investors favoured booking profits, particularly on financial institutions, power, banking and telecom sector stocks, he said.
Price correction of some large-cap stocks such as Beacon Pharma, LafargeHolcim, MJL Bangladesh, IPDC Finance and Power Grid contributed to the market fall as these five stocks jointly accounted for 16 points fall of the DSEX, according to amarstock.com, a market data analyst.
According to International Leasing Securities, the cautious investors involved in quick profit booking on sector specific stocks during the last hour of the session.
Investment activity in pharmaceuticals and miscellaneous sectors were remarkably high as the smart investors were putting fresh bets on heavyweight pharma and miscellaneous stocks amid positive expectations, said the stockbroker.
Stocks broke their upward trend after a three-day rise as sellers outnumbered buyers on the trading floor since investors continued partial liquidations of their holdings, said EBL Securities.
Some investors also rebalanced their portfolios by shifting towards particular large-cap stocks that are being traded at a lucrative price level after booking profits from the recent quick-gaining stocks, said the stockbroker.
The pharmaceuticals sector kept its dominance in the turnover chart, grabbing 27.4 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by miscellaneous (20 per cent) and engineering (9.0 per cent).
Two other indices also edged lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, dropped 2.87 points to finish at 2,373 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 9.10 points to close at 1,432.
Major sectors suffered losses. The non-bank financial institutions faced the highest loss of 0.82 per cent, followed by power with 0.72 per cent, engineering 0.36 per cent, food 0.26 per cent, banking 0.15 per cent and telecom 0.08 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 373 issues traded, 219 closed lower, 45 higher and 109 others remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 2.52 billion changing hands, closely followed by Orion Pharma (Tk 2.01 billion), Shinepukur Ceramics (Tk 667 million), LafargeHolcim (Tk 562 million) and Beximco Pharmaceuticals (Tk 541 million).
Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills was the day's top gainer, soaring 10 per cent while Beacon Pharmaceuticals was the worst loser, losing 7.93 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) falling 16.28 points to settle at 19,260 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 8.88 points to close at 11,546.
Of the issues traded, 160 declined, 49 advanced and 65 issues remained unchanged.
The port-city bourse traded 8.70 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 414 million.
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