Profit booking drags stocks down
Turnover at the DSE stood at Tk487.85, 5% higher than the previous session, as investors’ participation increased
Dhaka stocks witnessed a downturn for two consecutive sessions, including the Thursday, the last trading session of the week, as investors engaged in profit booking following recent market gains.
The benchmark index, DSEX, of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped 6.48 points to settle at 5,247, reflecting selling pressure in key sectors.
Market analysts said that after a four-day rally since 20 February, investors opted to secure their profits, leading to a decline in stock prices across various sectors, including banking, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.
Turnover at the DSE stood at Tk487.85, 5% higher than the previous session, as investors' participation increased.
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On Thursday, most of the stocks traded at the premier bourse witnessed price surges, according to the DSE data.
Of the traded stocks, 193 advanced, 133 declined, and 73 remained unchanged.
According to DSE data, on the last trading session of the week, stocks opened on a positive note but experienced fluctuations throughout the session.
The upward trend continued for the first 70 minutes until 11:10 am, driven by active buying from investors.
However, as selling pressure increased, stocks began to decline, with the downtrend persisting until 12:44pm.
Later, the market saw a brief recovery, but by the end of the session, stocks closed in the red.
EBL Securities, in its daily market commentary, said that the benchmark index of the Dhaka bourse failed to stay afloat for two consecutive sessions due to investors' continued profit booking in particular large cap scrips as they preferred to remain observant of the market's momentum ahead of the Ramadan season."
"Despite the majority of scrips closing in green, investors' buying interest fell short of keeping market indices to the positive territory," the reports read.
On the sectoral front, Textile sector firms exerted the highest by 14.3% in the total turnover, followed by Pharmaceutical and Chemical sector stock by 13.4% and Bank stocks by 11.8%.
However, sectors mostly displayed positive returns, out of which the Paper sector stocks by 5.3%, followed by Jute by 2.6% and financial institutions by 1.9% exhibited the most positive returns on the bourse today, while General Insurance, Services and Ceramic sector stocks exerted the most corrections.
Top gainers
According to the DSE's top gainers list, Bangladesh Lamps, known as BD Lamps, led the gainers with a 9.99% increase in its share price, reaching Tk120 each.
Although DSE data showed that Aramit Cement's shares surged the most on Thursday, rising 10% to Tk16.5 each, the DSE does not include Z category stocks in its top gainers calculation. As a result, BD Lamps secured the top position.
Other top gainers included HR Textile, up 9.96% to Tk36.4 each; Stylecraft, up 9.96% to Tk61.8 each; Bashundhara Paper Mills, up 9.78% to Tk41.5 each; and S Alam Cold Rolled Steels, up 9.76% to Tk23.6 each.
Top losers
Deshbandhu Polymer topped the losers' list, with its share price declining by 5.24% to Tk21.7 each, followed by Grameenphone, down 4.62% to Tk328.2 each, Golden Harvest, down 3.70% to Tk13 each, BAT Bangladesh, down 3.66% to Tk334 each, PHP First Mutual Fund, down 3.23% to Tk3 each.
The port city bourse, CSE, also witnessed a negative session today.
The Selective Categories' Index (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) decreased by 43.1 points and 50.2 points, respectively.
