Dhaka stocks extend losing streak for six consecutive days

For six consecutive trading days, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) indices continued their decline as cautious investors sold off their holdings and monitored the situation for further uncertainty.

However, the turnover increased by 6.5% to Tk514.64 crore compared to the previous year.

DSE prime index, DSEX, decreased by six points to 5,968 points, the Blue-chip index, DS30, dropped by five points to 2,052 points while the Shariah-compliant stocks' index, DSES, was down by one point to 1,300 points.

Of the total scrips traded, 165 advanced, 171 declined and 58 were unchanged.

Asiatic Laboratories, Lub-rref (Bangladesh), captured the DSE top gainer list followed by Golden Harvest Agro Industries, Oimex Electrode, and Bangladesh Building Systems Ltd.

On the other hand, Karnaphuli Insurance Company, Khulna Printing and Packaging captured the DSE top loser list followed by Fu-Wang Ceramic Industries, ICB Islamic Bank, and Aftab Automobiles Ltd.

At the DSE, the top three most traded stocks were — Golden Son, S S Steel, and Fu-Wang Ceramic Industries Ltd.

EBL Securities wrote in its daily market commentary that the downbeat capital market failed to recover from the persistent pessimism across the trading floor, with the benchmark index of the capital bourse closing in red territory for the sixth consecutive session as risk-averse investors are still wary of the market momentum and decided to remain watchful.

Market volatility persists as market confidence is yet to be restored owing to concerns regarding the market outlook. However, a portion of opportunistic investors continued to take positions in the beaten-down scrips, which they perceived to be at lucrative price levels, the brokerage house said in its commentary.

On the sectoral front, Engineering witnessed the highest turnover at 24.5%, followed by Pharma at 13.3% and Food at 13.1%.

Most of the sectors displayed mixed returns, out of which, Paper 1.6%, Ceramic 1.1% and Life Insurance 1.0% exerted the most corrections on the bourse yesterday, while Services 0.9%, General Insurance 0.7% and Telecom 0.6% exhibited the most positive returns.

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also settled on red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) declined by 9.2 and 15.1 points, respectively.