Dhaka: Dhaka stocks have ended a two-day winning streak as investors chose to remain cautious, observing market momentum amid prolonged subdued sentiment.

The DSEX – the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) – plunged by 68 points, settling at 5,761, while the blue-chip index DS30 declined by 13 points to close at 2,007 on Monday, April 1, 2024.

Owing to the massive selling pressure, 315 stocks declined, 47 advanced, and 35 remained unchanged.

The turnover at the country's premier bourse observed a slight increase to Tk468 crore, compared to the previous session.

EBL Securities said in its daily market commentary, that the capital bourse of the country failed to hold onto the revival spirit as investors turned back to their selling mode after a two-day break owing to the wavering confidence across the trading floor.

The market witnessed a downward trend throughout the session as investors shied away from taking positions in equities and opted to stay on the sidelines to observe the market momentum amidst the prolonged subdued market sentiment, it added.

Renata, Beximco Pharma, Beacon Pharma, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, and BRAC Bank played pivotal roles as index draggers on Monday.

On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by the textile and ceramic sectors.

Shinepukur Ceramics led the turnover chart by trading shares worth Tk32 crore, followed by Central Pharma and Fu-Wang Ceramics.

Most of the sectors displayed dismal returns, out of which jute, paper, and travel exhibited the most corrections on the bourse, while investors got returns only from the IT sector.

BIFC, a non-bank financial institution, topped the list of gainers despite grappling with the burden of non-performing loans.

Emerald Oil emerged as the worst-performing stock of the day, despite reporting a significant growth in profit during the first half of this fiscal year.

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also settled on red terrain. The selected indices, CSCX and the all-share price index (CASPI), declined by 72 and 117 points to settle at 9,926 and 16,511, respectively.

The market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 6,77,674.49 crore on the day. Market operators said that multiple factors were working behind the bearish trend of the stocks, such as lack of investor confidence, increase in the lending rate, liquidity crisis in banks, crisis in foreign exchange reserves, sudden change of policies and ongoing global economic uncertainties.

Article Source – The Business Standard (Bangladesh)