Stocks end slightly lower

Following sharp falls over two previous sessions, stocks on Tuesday seemed to have got some support from bargain hunters who preferred bagging shares at a cheaper price.

The market opened higher, but by 1pm the indices hit the intraday lows after sellers – desperate to avert further capital erosion – did not take much time to go for a selloff.

Bargain hunters later pushed the market slightly up that halted a sharp fall at the end.

Still, stocks closed slightly lower than the previous session's low as panicked short-term investors barely refrained from selling off.

DSEX, the broad index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), ended 0.13% lower at 6,917, while it fell by 0.7% and 0.9% in the previous two sessions.

Blue-chip index DS30 closed 0.36% lower, while Shariah Index DSES fell by 0.24%, reflecting heavier selling pressure in selective stocks institutional investors prefer to buy and hold.

Both the institutional and individual investors were nervous about the market direction, said the stockbrokers.

On top of the destabilising international factors such as global market selloff, Ukraine crisis, the local market inflation and the central bank's upcoming stance regarding money flow, all increased investors' caution on the local bourses.  

The recent disclosures by financial sector companies of their annual earnings either remaining almost flat or declining in 2021 also hurt investor confidence, said stockbrokers.

The market has not yet come out of the fear and confused investors refrained from pouring fresh money amid the bearish vibe in the market, they added.

As a result, investors' participation went further sluggish on Tuesday in the DSE as the daily turnover on the premier bourse dropped below Tk1,000 crore for the first time since 2 January.

EBL Securities in its market commentary wrote about the smart investors' ongoing efforts for portfolio rebalancing which refers to selling low potential stocks and buying those with higher profit potentials.

IT, services and travel-leisure sectors led the sectoral gaining table as their respective market capitalisation increased by 2.8%, 2.1% and 1.7% on Tuesday.

Jute, paper and food led the losing sectors.

Pharmaceuticals, miscellaneous and textile sectors contributed most to the DSE's daily turnover.

To offer relief to the investors, the advance-decline ratio in the market improved on Tuesday as out of the 385 issues traded, 173 advanced, 154 declined, and 58 remained the same on the DSE.

Chittagong Stock Exchange better arrested the fall on Tuesday as the broad index CSCX closed only 0.1% lower.

Turnover on the port city bourse dropped to below Tk25 crore from over Tk37 crore in the previous session.