BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks slipped into the red on Monday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as risk-averse investors went on selling binge on sector-wise issues.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 24.21 points or 0.50 per cent to close at 4,734, after adding 70 points in the five consecutive sessions.
Five large-cap stocks - Square Pharma, LafargeHolcim, United Power, Meghna Petroleum and Olympic Industries-- contributed 19 points fall of DSEX, according to the market operators.
The market opened higher and the key index soared 38 points within first hour of trading. But investors' optimism failed to sustain as shaky investors engaged in booking quick-profit on sector specific issues.
They, however, said opportunist investors are taking a position on banking issues preceded by expectation on banks' year-end earnings and dividend declaration considering their lucrative price levels.
Selling of shares mostly in cement, pharma, telecom, power and financial institutions sectors, contributed the market fall, they added.
Among the major sectors, cement witnessed the highest loss of 4.50 per cent, followed by pharma with 0.92 per cent, financial institutions 0.90 per cent, power 0.60 per cent, and telecom 0.20 per cent.
Only the heavyweight banking sector soared 1.50 per cent. The banking sector also accounted for 26 per cent of the day's total turnover.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 346 issues traded, 194 closed lower, 124 ended higher and 28 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 137,833 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 228.59 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE also fell to BDT 3,558 billion on Monday, from BDT 3,569 billion in the previous session.
LafargeHolcim Bangladesh topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 138 million changing hands, closely followed by Premier Bank, Paramount Textile, IFIC Bank and Square Pharma.
Islami Bank was the best performer, posting a gain of 9.83 per cent while Makson Spinning was the worst loser, plunging by 8.92 per cent.
Two other indices also ended in the red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell sharply by 15.78 points to finish at 1,629 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 9.87 points to close at 1,067.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also fell to BDT 4.82 billion, which was 7.50 per cent lower than the previous day's turnover of BDT 5.21 billion.
On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 50 points to close at 14,409 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –shedding 33 points to finish at 8,748.
BBN/SSR/AD