Stocks return to negative territory again

Stocks returned to negative territory again on Wednesday, as investors opted to capitalise on profits following the sharp surge a day before.

DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dipped below 4,800 again and lost 40.02 points.

Following the declaration of upcoming institutional support, the DSEX had increased 110 points on Tuesday. Earlier, the index had lost 225 points during the six previous working days.

As profit booking attempts did not proportionately accompany fresh position takers, turnover at the DSE marginally declined from the previous session.

The capital city bourse on Wednesday recorded a total turnover of Tk324 crore, down from over Tk328 crore on Tuesday.

"Investors, going through a downward spiral, are not passionate enough to hold onto investments because that resulted in capital losses for the last three quarters of market downturn. That is why, majority of them are preferring to book whatever profits they have. It indicates the level of market confidence," said an analyst at a top brokerage firm.

DS30, the blue-chip index at the capital city bourse, lost 1.09 percent on Wednesday to close at 1,685 points while DSEX lost 0.82 percent and closed at 4,781 points.

Advance to decline ratio in the market also returned to a bearish pattern as 259 of the traded scrips at the DSE lost price, while 65 gained, and the price of 30 securities remained unchanged. 

Meanwhile, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) managed to minimise fall in its indices within a range of 0.4 to 0.7 percent during the session.

At the port city bourse, prices of 59 scrips gained, while 159 declined, and that of 29 remained unchanged.

Trading volume at the CSE increased to Tk15.5 crore from Tk13.5 crore.

Among major sectors, only banks closed positive on Wednesday. Jute, IT, paper and printing, service and real estate, engineering, textile, ceramic, fuel and power, non-banking financial institutions, cement, telecom, food and allied lost over one percent of their market capital.

The engineering sector dominated the turnover chart as Bangladesh Shipping Corporation was the top traded scrip.

The state-owned shipping line posted a staggering 295 percent growth in annual profits and declared 10 percent cash dividends for the previous financial year.