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Stocks plummeted on Sunday with lower turnover as risk-averse investors opted for booking profits on quick-gaining stocks.
The market started on a flat note before ending lower as most of the investors followed a cautious stance amid rising trend of Covid-19 infections in the country.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 49.70 points or 0.89 cent to settle at 5,519, after gaining 5.19 points in the previous session.
Market analysts said most of the investors went on selling binge on major sector stocks amid rising trend of Covid-19 infections once again.
“The shaky investors sell-offs amid lower trading activities riding on the news that daily Covid-19 infection has almost doubled in a one week in Bangladesh,” said a top broker.
Newly listed Lub-rref (Bangladesh) was the top losers for the two consecutive sessions, losing 9.68 per cent to close at Tk 49.40 each on Sunday.
The local lubricant producer, which made trading debut on March 9, soared 125 per cent in the first two trading days to reach Tk 60.70, from its offer price of Tk 27 each.
Two other indices also ended lower with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, lost 28.37 points to finish at 2,126 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) dropped 7.96 points to close at 1,257.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, dropped to Tk 6.22 billion, which was nearly 23 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 8.09 billion.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 351 issues traded, 172 declined, 75 advanced and 104 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- was the most-traded stock with shares worth about Tk 819 million changing hands, followed by Robi (Tk 362 million), Summit Power (Tk 336 million), Lu-rref (Tk 319 million) and LafargeHolcim Bangladesh (Tk 304 million).
Rahima Food was the day’s top gainer, posting a gain of 8.74 per cent while Lub-reef (Bangladesh) was the worst loser, losing 6.68 per cent.
A total number of 147,401 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 162.93 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also dropped to Tk 4,778 billion on Sunday, down from Tk 4,828 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 136 points to settle at 16,027 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 81 points to close at 9,668.
Of the issues traded, 125 declined, 55 advanced and 54 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 8.11 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 294 million.