BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Bangladesh’s stocks faced correction on Wednesday, after hitting highest level of the premier bourse’s core index on the day before, as risk-averse investor booked short-term profit on sector-specific stocks.
Market insiders said investors mostly preferred to pocket profit on stocks that saw substantial gains in recent upsurge while some were busy rebalancing their portfolio.
The market opened with a positive note, gaining about 30 points within first five minutes of trading, but rest of the session fell steadily, finally closed more than 38 points lower.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 38.35 points or 0.65 percent to settle at 5,883 points.
The two other indices also saw sharp decline. The DS30, comprising blue chips, fell 13.70 points or 0.64 percent to close at 2,112.
The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 7.48 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 1,304.
The turnover, an important indicator of the market, rose to BDT 8.36 billion on the DSE, which was 7.45 percent higher than the previous day's mark of BDT 7.78 billion.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as 331 issues traded, 237 closed lower, 68 closed higher and 26 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Recently listed BBS Cables dominated the DSE turnover with about 3.06 million shares of BDT 374 million changing hands, closely followed by Uttara Bank, IFIC Bank, IFAD Autos and Pubali Bank.
BBS Cables was also the day’s highest gainer, posting a 10 percent rise, while Sunlife Insurance was the worst loser, plunging 12.60 percent following the news of its non dividend declaration.
The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also closed lower with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - shedding 69 points to settle at 11043.
Losers beat gainers as 183 issues closed lower, 55 closed higher and 14 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 15.57 million shares and mutual fund units’ worth BDT 415 million in turnover.
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