Stocks break three-day gaining streak
Breaking a three-day gaining streak, Dhaka stocks declined in the last session of the week as investors opted for profit booking.
The DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell 0.79% to 5,196.
"The indices remained subdued for the majority of the session since cautious investors preferred to reduce their capital market exposure to the capital market, clinging to a bleak market momentum," said EBL Securities in its daily market commentary after the closing bell.
According to several stockbrokers, there were two contradictory psychological factors in the market, and cautious investors responded to the bearish one more.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
After the final approval, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh is waiting for its Tk3,000 crore loan from the Bangladesh Bank at 4% interest for one and a half years, and a portion of the fund will be used to invest in fundamentally strong company shares.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) imposed big fines on several market manipulators, which usually tend to unnerve big investors acting as de facto market movers, said stockbrokers.
Analysts are yet to call for aggressive risk-taking in stocks in a high-inflation and high-interest environment as risk-averse investors are enjoying around a 13% return from fixed-income securities, including treasury bonds.
"The market pulse shifted to an intense downbeat vibe in the final session of the week, with the majority of scrips sliding into red territory," said EBL Securities.
"Cautious investors preferred to realise their recent gains, while anxiety over the latest regulatory fines for stock manipulation shook the already volatile market," it added.
Market turnover, meanwhile, fell further by 29.7% to Tk335 crore.
On the sectoral front, the pharmaceuticals, textiles, and banking sectors made the highest 17.6%, 12.7%, and 13.1% of the DSE turnover, respectively.
Most of the sectors faced price corrections, out of which mutual funds, services, and IT led to sectoral declines as their market capitalisation fell by 3.6%, 2.3%, and 2.2%, respectively.
Closed-end mutual funds, being traded on the bourses, had led the gainers on Wednesday.
Only the jute sector's market capitalisation increased by 1.1%.
Market capitalisation is the total market value of all the shares of a company or a sector.
Of the 397 issues traded on the DSE, 42 advanced, 308 declined, and 38 remained unchanged.
Stylecraft, Monno Ceramic, Dragon Sweater, Orion Infusion, Dominage Steel Building, EBL First Mutual Fund, HR Textile, Meghna Cement, Reliance First Mutual Fund, and Sinobangla Industries were the top gainers on the DSE as their stock prices surged by 1.7% to 8.7%.
On the other hand, Newline Clothing, First Prime Mutual Fund, Popular Life First Mutual Fund, Grameen One Scheme Two, AB Bank First Mutual Fund, First Bangladesh Fixed Income Fund, IFIC First Mutual Fund, First Finance, Green Delta Mutual Fund, and LR Global First Mutual Fund were the top losers on the premier bourse as their share prices dropped by 5%-9%.
Indices on the Chittagong Stock Exchange also settled in the red terrain on Thursday while turnover on the port city bourse fell by 23% to Tk3.8 crore.
