Stocks dip amid profit taking

Stocks posted losses on Thursday as investors were active in profit booking by selling off shares.

The prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX plunged 25 points or 0.5 percent to close the day at 4,733 points. 

DSES, the Shariah-based index, also gave up 3 points or 0.3 percent to settle at 1,090 points, while DS30, the blue-chip index, shed 7 points or 0.4 percent to stand at 1,593 points. 

At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, Caspi – the benchmark index – lost 30 points or 0.2 percent to close at 14,525 points.

DSEX was upbeat during the initial hours of trading session but faced a sharp decline during the mid-session. However, it again took a leap at its intraday performance graph but fell again, finally ending the trading session in the red zone. 

Investors focused on profit taking by liquidating their investments from sector-specific shares. However, the telecom sector surged, riding on the 2.6 percent appreciation in Grameenphone share price. 

Brokers told The Business Standard that Grameenphone's share price boosted after the Appellate Division ordered the mobile operator to pay Tk1,000 crore to the telecom regulator BTRC by Monday. Previously in November 2019, Grameenphone was asked to make a payment of Tk2,000 crore out of its disputed audit claim. 

Turnover at the DSE declined 8 percent to Tk770.6 crore on Thursday from Tk837.2 crore in the previous session. 

On the other hand, turnover at the port city bourse faced a significant decline of 67 percent from Tk86.4 crore to Tk28.8 crore Thursday. 

The engineering sector contributed the highest, 17.6 percent, to the total turnover value, followed by textile stocks adding 15.8 percent, and pharmaceuticals sector adding 11.8 percent.

Grameenphone, the company with the highest market capitalisation, topped the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk38.8 crore, closing the day at Tk295.6 per share. The stock was followed by Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh Ltd with a turnover value of Tk15.8 crore, closing at Tk47.3 per share.

Delta Brac Housing Finance Corp. Ltd has announced 20 percent cash and 15 percent stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2019. The company has also reported an earnings per share (EPS) of Tk8.04 for the year ended on December 31, 2019 which was Tk7.82 for the same period of the previous year. 

Besides, Samata Leather Complex Ltd has declared its second quarter earnings and Familytex (BD) Ltd has declared both its first and second quarter earnings for the year 2019. 

The EPS of Samata Leather Complex Ltd was Tk0.05 for the period October-December 2019, as against Tk0.04 for the same period of the previous year. 

In addition, the first quarter EPS of Familytex (BD) Ltd was Tk0.006 for July-September 2019, as against Tk0.023 for the same period of 2018. The second quarter EPS of the company was Tk0.003 compared to the negative EPS of Tk0.021 for the same period of the previous year. 

More company specific news informed that SK Trims and Industries Ltd has completed the civil construction of its second 6-storey building with a total area of 75,600 square feet, 12,600 square feet area per floor. The company further informed that the building will be used for manufacturing luggage, travel bags, etc. for exporting. 

Information Services Network Ltd was the best performer on the gainers' table, advancing 9.9 percent, closing at Tk43 per share.

CAPM BDBL Mutual Fund 01 was the day's worst loser after shedding 8.6 percent and closing at Tk8.5 per share, said the DSE website.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 355 issues traded, only 83 advanced, 243 declined, and 29 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.