Stocks break three-day rally on profit booking

Stocks broke the three-day sharp rally on Monday as risk-averse investors went for short-term profit booking on sector-specific shares.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went down by 1.53 percent or 74.44 points to settle at 4,785, after soaring 326 points in the past three consecutive sessions.

Market analysts said a section of investors opted for booking profit on stocks which saw sharp gain in recent price upsurge, dragging the index down.

Two other indices also closed lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 21.84 points to finish at 1,618 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 13.31 points to close at 1,096.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 14.08 billion on the country’s premier bourse, climbing further by 4.22 per cent over previous day’s mark of Tk 13.51 billion.

Liquidity support fund by the Bangladesh Bank and the decline in bank deposit rates--- maximum up to 6.0 per cent for time deposit, paving the way for new investment in the market, taking the market turnover above Tk 14 billion-mark once again, said a leading broker.

Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 356 issues traded, 228 closed lower and 118 ended higher while 10 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.

A total number of 247,832 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 547.13 million shares and mutual fund units.

The market-cap on the premier bourse also fell to Tk 3,595 billion on Monday, from Tk 3,635 billion in the previous session.

Orion Pharma topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 549 million changing hands, closely followed by Brac Bank, Beximco Pharma, IFIC Bank and Beximco.

Eaxim Bank First Mutual Fund was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Prime Finance was the worst loser, losing 8.86 per cent.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange ended lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 183 points to close at 13,672 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –shedding 124 points to finish at 8,236.

Of the issues traded, 96 gained, 174 declined and 20 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city bourse traded 20.41 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 317 million.