The core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell below the 6,000-mark to close at 5990.98 on Monday, after a single day, as cautious investors opted for booking profit on quick-gaining stocks.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, surpassed the 6000-mark on Sunday after more than three years and scaled back on Monday amid highly volatile trade.
After four and a half hours trading, the benchmark index of the DSE went down by 17.70 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 5,991, after gaining 221 points in the past four straight sessions.
The market capitalisation of the DSE, however, rose to a fresh all-time high at Tk 5,038 billion on Monday, surpassing the previous day's record high of Tk 5,034 billion.
The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also saw a fractional gain of 0.31 point to close at 1,285. However, the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, fell 2.46 points to finish at 2,205.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, dropped to Tk 17.32 billion, which was 19 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 21.49 billion.
Market experts said the investors went for booking profit as stocks had been rising for the last few days while some rebalanced their portfolios based on quarterly earnings disclosures.
The investors were more cautious as the key index crossed the 'psychological' threshold of 6,000-mark which prompted some investors to book short-term profit, said a leading broker.
"When the market goes up for a stretch, then it is normal to witness some corrections," he said.
Top negative index contributors were British American Tobacco, Square Pharma, Islami Bank, Renata and National Bank, according to data of amarstock.com, a stock market data analyst.
The shaky investors preferred to book some quick-gain on sector specific stocks after remaining upbeat in the past few days, commented International Leasing Securities.
The stockbroker noted that the market saw a marginal correction as investors took quick profit on life insurance, mutual fund, food, textile, banking and pharma sector stocks.
Some optimistic investors, however, continued their buying binge on cement, telecom, power and financial institution sector stocks as their sentiment remained positive, riding on various regulatory reforms and budgetary expectations.
The low-cap life insurance sector saw the biggest hit, losing 2.80 per cent after big gain in the past few days, followed by mutual fund with 1.80 per cent, food 0.60 per cent, banking 0.50 per cent and pharma 0.20 per cent.
On the other hand, cement posted the highest gain with 6.0 per cent return, followed by telecom with 0.60 per cent, power 0.40 per cent and financial institutions 0.30 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 359 issues traded, 203 declined, 102 advanced and 54 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth about Tk 1.25 billion changing hands, followed by Confidence Cement (Tk 763 million), LafargeHolcim (Tk 664 million), Dutch-Bangla Bank (Tk 502 million) and IFAD Autos (Tk 412 million).
Confidence Cement was the day's best performer, hitting the upper limit circuit breaker with almost 10 per cent gain following its impressive quarterly earnings growth while Union Capital was the worst loser, losing 12.66 per cent following its 'no' dividend declaration news.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended marginally lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 19 points to settle at 17,359 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX shedding 10 points to close at 10,462.
Of the issues traded, 169 declined, 89 advanced and 39 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 24.58 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 589 million.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
