Stocks slipped into the red on Sunday, snapping a two-day winning streak, as investors remained cautious amid lack of market triggers.
The market was in the positive territory until first hour of trading gaining 35 points before going down on late selling pressure on the engineering and insurance sectors.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 11.59 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 5,404, after adding about 100 points in the past two straight sessions.
Market analysts said pressure on margin loans adjustment to regulatory allowable and the central bank's circular regarding dividend restriction of banks and non-bank financial institutions cast negative impact on the market.
Lack of institutional investors' participation and unsatisfactory dividend declarations by certain companies contributed to the current gloomy market situation, said a top broker.
The broker noted that the investors mostly stayed cautious ahead of dividend declaration by December-end companies.
Top negative index contributors were Walton, Beximco, Beximco Pharma, LankaBangla Finance and LafargeHolcim, contributing about 21 points fall of DSEX jointly, according to data from amarstock.com, a stock market data analyst.
Two other indices also saw marginal correction with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, lost 8.96 points to finish at 2,056 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 3.03 points to close at 1,222.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, came down to Tk 6.60 billion, which was 11.5 per cent lower than the previous day's turnover of Tk 7.46 billion.
According to International Leasing Securities investors suffered from a confidence crisis amid prolonged lackluster trading.
The stockbroker noted that investors remained puzzled about the market direction and followed 'go-slow' strategy.
Among the major sectors, engineering posted the highest loss of 2.30 per cent, followed by miscellaneous with 2.20 per cent, general insurance 1.20 per cent, cement 0.60 per cent and pharma 0.20 per cent.
On the other hand, banking saw a 0.80 per cent gain, followed by food with 0.60 per cent and power 0.30 per cent.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 348 issues traded, 120 declined, 102 advanced and 126 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group - continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth over Tk 1.31 billion changing hands, followed by Robi, BATBC, Summit Power and LankaBangla Finance.
Anwar Galvanizing came to the scene after a long time as it hit almost the upper limit circuit at 9.99 per cent. GQ Ball Pen which remained under pressure for a poor sale due to pandemic was the second biggest gainer, posting a 9.96 per cent gain.
Prime Finance was the worst loser, losing almost 6.0 per cent, followed by Beximco, LankaBangla Finance, Golden Son, United Insurance and Midas Finance.
A total number of 134,579 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 162.02 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also fell to Tk 4,657 billion on Sunday, down from Tk 4,669 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 46 points to settle at 15,603 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX shedding 30 points to close at 9,410.
Of the issues traded, 80 declined, 75 advanced and 74 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 7.47 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 244 million.
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