Stocks slipped into red Monday, snapping a two-day gaining streak, as cautious investors sold shares to bag profit.
Market operators said the cautious investors booked quick-profit on large-cap sectors, especially pharmaceuticals, telecommunication and non-bank financial institutions issues, taking the market into the red zone.
"The market witnessed a natural correction, as some investors intended to book the profit earned during the previous two days' 158 points gains," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
Grameenphone's share price fell 0.61 per cent to close at Tk 505.60 while share price of Square Pharmaceuticals saw 0.78 per cent correction to settle at Tk 327.40.
The market started on an upward trend and the key index of the prime bourse crossed the 6,100-mark in early trading, but failed to sustain the momentum as the session progressed. Finally it ended more than 11 points lower.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went down by 11.66 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 6,082, after witnessing a 21-month single-day gain in the previous session.
According to International Leasing Securities, the risk-averse investors preferred to book some gain that saw substantial price surge in the past two sessions, especially on the financial institutions, pharmaceuticals and telecom sectors which led the market to close in red.
CSE also ended lower with CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI-losing 32 points to settle at 18,792 and Selective Categories Index - CSCX -shedding nearly 20 points to finish at 11,344.
Losers beat gainers as 117 issues closed lower, 102 nudged higher and 22 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 7.84 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 200 million in turnover.
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