Stocks witnessed a marginal correction on Tuesday, after the indices hit record high in the previous day, as shaky investors preferred to book profit on quick-gaining issues.
Following the record breaking rally in the past six straight sessions, the market opened on a positive note, but profit booking sell-offs in telecom, power, pharma and insurance stocks wiped out the early gains.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 10.30 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 6,617, after hitting new high in the previous day. DSEX, however, added 248 points in the previous six consecutive sessions.
Market experts said the risk-averse investors booked some profit on stocks which saw significant gain in the past few trading days, taking the market in the red territory.
The market witnessed moderate correction as cautious investors booked profits, particularly on telecom, general insurance and power stocks sector stocks, said a merchant banker.
He noted that as the market was on a rising trend in the last few days, many stock prices were up by at least 10 per cent to 20 per cent, so investors are taking their profits now.
"This is a positive thing because when investors make profit, they get the confidence to invest more," he added.
The investors followed a cautious approach as the market indices reached a historical high in the previous day while some investors favoured booking profit, said a leading broker.
However, he said, optimistic investors continued to put fresh funds on stocks amid lower returns on the money market and limited scope of investment in other instruments.
Two other indices also edged lower after hitting record high in the previous day with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, fell 8.52 points to finish at 2,384 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 9.64 points to close at 1,442.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, registered of Tk 28.40 billion, its third single-day highest, a 3.36 per cent lower than the previous day's second highest turnover of Tk 29.39 billion.
The all-time-high turnover on the DSE was Tk 32.49 billion recorded on December 5, 2010, when the market saw a bull run before a crash.
Among the major sectors, telecom saw the highest correction, losing 1.60 per cent, followed by general insurance with 0.80 per cent, power 0.70 per cent, pharma 0.60 per cent and textile 0.60 per cent.
The non-bank financial institutions generated the highest return, gaining 2.80 per cent, followed by cement with 2.70 per cent and banking 1.10 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 375 issues traded, 223 declined, 137 advanced and 15 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 1.67 billion changing hands, followed by IFIC Bank (Tk 1.04 billion), LafargeHolcim Bangladesh (Tk 653 million), Orion Pharma (Tk 548 million) and Appollo Ispat (Tk 426 million).
National Housing Finance & Investment was the day's top gainer hitting the upper limit circuit breaker with 10 per cent rise, while Dacca Dyeing was the worst loser, losing 8.61 per cent.
A total number of 392,759 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 941.70 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE dropped slightly to Tk 5,450 billion on Tuesday, down from previous day's all-time high of Tk 5,455 billion.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 7.93 points to settle at 19,281 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX shedding 7.83 points to close at 11,566.
Of the issues traded, 181 declined, 132 advanced and 17 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 48.12 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 1.02 billion.
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