Market corrects further amid lower turnover

Stocks continued correcting the recent gains amid further investors' participation in daily trading.

Institutional investors' caution amid the ongoing correction was the key behind the sluggish market, according to stockbrokers. 

Seeking anonymity, a stockbroker told The Business Standard as the interest rate against margin loans needs to be capped after May, many brokers and merchant banks are worried that they might not be able to keep lending and are now trying to reduce their margin loan exposure. 

Mid-profile brokers depend on high-cost loans from non-bank financial institutions to disburse margin loans that their clients use as leverage in stock trading. 

Investors are more watchful during the market correction after a stunning rally since June 2020. 

Moreover, the scheduled debut of construction company Mir Akhter Hossain Ltd on Tuesday increased investors' caution as new stocks often tend to attract additional secondary market funds that divert from the existing scrips.  

On Monday, DSEX, the broad-based index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 50.06 points or 0.89% to close at 5,599.80. 

In the morning session, the market was trying to recover the loss of Sunday and reached the intraday peak at 10:56am. 

But a clear domination of sellers, mainly profit bookers, pushed the indices further down until the end of the session. 

Over the day, 110 issues advanced and 138 declined while the prices of 108 scrips remained unchanged. 

Turnover at the DSE dropped by 12.74% to Tk718 crore on Monday.

Blue-chip index DS30 suffered the biggest fall – 1.62% - which was yet another indication of research-based investors' caution. 

Investors continue their cautious stance and are also offloading shares they deem undesirable based on the recent fundamental updates, EBL Securities wrote in its daily market commentary. 

Of the sectors, non-life insurance gained 4.7% market capitalisation as the insurance regulator said comprehensive insurance for all motor vehicles would be mandatory, which might significantly boost the industry's premium income. 

Jute, cement, engineering, IT, and paper made the gainers' list while food, financial institutions, pharmaceuticals, fuel and power, and miscellaneous led the losers' list.