Stocks nosedived on Wednesday, a day after the market saw a single-day highest turnover in one year, as profit-taking by jittery investors continued to dominate the market for a second day.
The market witnessed see-saw trading throughout the session as investors started trading cautiously after the benchmark equity index crossed 6,600 mark two days ago.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled the day 45.21 points or 0.68 per cent lower at 6,551. DSEX slid almost 50 points in the past two days.
Market analysts said market witnessed volatility as investors opted to secure profits from large-cap stocks anticipating dismal earnings forecasts of major companies.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday trimmed Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 6.6 per cent which also made the investors cautious, said a merchant banker.
EBL Securities, a stockbroker, said stocks tumbled since the upward momentum in the market lost its grip despite a record turnover in the previous day as cautious investors chose to liquidate their holdings amidst a gloomy earnings forecast of the major companies.
The market saw a volatile session since most stocks extended their losing spree while investors were rushing for selective stocks with the anticipation of quick gains, said the stockbroker.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also dropped to Tk 18.08 billion on the premier bourse, which was 36 per cent lower than the previous day's one-year highest turnover of Tk 28.28 billion.
Three most-traded firms jointly accounted for almost 34 per cent of the day's total turnover, with Orion Pharma generating Tk 2.57 billion, Beximco Tk 2.30 billion and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Tk 1.02 billion.
Two other DSE indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, plunged 26.93 points to finish at 2,375 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 12 points to close at 1,436.
Meanwhile, ICB AMCL CMSF Golden Jubilee Mutual Fund made a dismal trading debut on Wednesday as its unit price rose only 1.0 per cent.
Each unit of the Golden Jubilee Mutual Fund traded between Tk 9.84 and Tk 11, before closing at Tk 10.10 on Wednesday, against its face value of Tk 10 each.
A total of 541 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 975,271 units of the mutual fund on the DSE trading floor.
Its unit price surged 5.0 per cent on the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) to close at Tk 10.50 each on Wednesday.
The pharmaceuticals sector topped the turnover chart of DSE, grabbing 27 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by miscellaneous (24 per cent) and power (7.0 per cent).
Most of the large-cap sectors saw corrections. Pharmaceuticals sector posted the highest loss of 0.78 per cent, followed by non-bank financial institutions (0.70 per cent), engineering (0.42 per cent), food (0.26 per cent), telecom (0.17 per cent) and banking (0.17 per cent).
Only power sector gained 0.54 per cent.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 371 issues traded, 159 closed lower, 58 higher and 154 others remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Index Agro Industries was the day's top gainer, posting a rise of 9.98 per cent while Jute Spinners was the worst loser, losing 8.74 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also fell sharply with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) losing 131 points to settle at 19,319 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) shedding 79 points to close at 11,581.
Of the issues traded, 106 declined, 44 advanced and 118 issues remained unchanged.
The port-city bourse 48.41 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value jumped to Tk 1.26 billion.
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