Stocks fell for second consecutive session yesterday, triggered by profit booking combined with apprehension that the market would go down further.
After marginal rise briefly in the morning, the market started declining till close of the trading. Some losses were offset by mainly heavyweight banking shares that closed marginally higher.
The benchmark index DSEX was down 42 points or 0.9% to 4,625.
The blue chips index DS30 fell 16 points or 1% to 1,689. The Shariah index DSES shed 17 points or 1.7% to close at 1,017.
Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, dropped 95 points to 8,902.
With marginal improvement in participation, turnover recorded at Tk435 crore from previous session’s Tk433 crore.
IDLC Investments said selling stimulus triggered by the fear of further fall put a drag on the bourse.
It said micro cap scrips shrank significantly, contributing most to the losses of DSEX. “Investors continued centralising their positions on the basis of quarterly earnings announcement and expectation,” it said.
Portfolio re-balancing was prominent as investors were seemed pursuing meticulous strategy in their trading activities, it said.
All the major sectors ended in red except heavyweight banks and food and allied which edged higher after declining in the previous session.
The four banks emerged top ten gainers list, making banking sector the best performer of the session. It also accounted for 18.5% of total market turnover with two banks featuring in the turnover list. Conversely, power sector shed 1.4%, telecommunication 2% and non-banking financial institutions 1.2%.
Lafarge Surma Cement topped the turnover’s chart following its earnings declaration for the first quarter, 2014. Its shares worth almost Tk38 crore have changed hands.
Lafarge was followed by Meghna petroleum, Padma Oil, Grameenphone, Southeast Bank, Heidelberg Cement and National Bank Ltd.