Stocks slide on profit booking amid lower turnover
Only 55 scrips managed to advance while 106 declined.
Dhaka stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors opted to realise their recent gains, especially from the small ticket stocks hovering above the floor prices.
The week's last session started on a positive note but that momentum did not last after noon.
DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), from an intraday high of 6,268 at 11:50 am, nosedived to 6,249 during the closing bell at 2:20 pm—posting a 0.2% decline.
Only 55 scrips managed to advance while 106 declined.
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"The benchmark index of the Dhaka bourse observed a major setback in the last session of the week due to heavy sell pressure in trendy stocks. Cautious investors opted to realise their recent gains owing to shaky confidence regarding the market momentum," EBL Securities wrote in its daily market commentary.
Amidst investors' continuous chase for rumour-driven speculative stocks, the indices managed to remain afloat till mid-session but succumbed to significant sell-offs in the last half of the session, the commentary reads.
Meanwhile, market turnover fell by 9.1% to Tk627 crore.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceuticals, engineering and mutual funds together made one-third of the daily turnover.
Most of the sectors displayed dismal returns, out of which travel, jute, and ceramic had the major corrections as their market capitalisation declined by 4.7%, 1.6% and 1% respectively.
On the other hand, life insurance, general insurance and paper sectors posted marginal gains that ranged from 0.1% to 0.3%.
Golden Jubilee Mutual Fund, Midland Bank, NCC Bank Mutual Fund, Kohinoor Chemical, and Union Capital were the top five gainers of the day, while Sea Pearl Beach Resort, Anlima Yarn, Khulna Printing, CAPM IBB Mutual Fund, and Pacific Denims were in a sharp fall.
Indices and turnover in the port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange also declined on Thursday.
