Stocks extend losses amid omicron woes

DSE key indicators on Monday 

• DSEX fell by 0.76% to 7,019

• DSES fell by 0.2% to 1,505

• DS30 fell by 0.58% to 2,614

• Turnover fell 18.1% to Tk1,214 crore

Stocks in the Dhaka and Chattogram bourses continued price corrections on Monday as many investors preferred profit-booking amid the rising omicron infection curve. 

Following a 0.46% decline on Sunday, DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell by 0.76% to 7,019 on Monday. 

The rising Covid-19 cases prompted many investors to sell-off stocks to realise capital gains, said EBL Securities in their daily market commentary. 

Few sector-specific stocks seemed to gain investors' attention ahead of the forthcoming earning declarations, it added. 

However, the sellers dominated Monday's session in both the bourses as out of the 384 issues traded in the DSE, 71 advanced, 270 declined, and 43 remained unchanged.

In the port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), out of 311 scrips, 63 advanced, 213 declined, and 35 remained unchanged. 

Since the profit booking pressure was across the board, selective stocks' indices — blue-chip and Shariah — declined less than the broad-based ones in both bourses. 

Participation declined in both stock exchanges as investors favoured sitting on cash amidst the bearish vibe in the market. 

Turnover in the DSE declined by 18.1% to Tk1,214 crore, while it slightly declined to Tk38.54 crore in the CSE.

Of the sectors, miscellaneous, pharmaceuticals, and food and allied together contributed to over 40% of the daily turnover, in terms of the market value of the traded scrips, in the DSE. 

Most sectors faced erosion of market capitalisation on Monday. Ceramic, miscellaneous, services and real estate sectors suffered the biggest drops of 3.5%, 2.4%, and 2.1% respectively. 

On the other hand, the market capitalisation of paper and printing, food and allied, and tannery sectors increased 2.8%, 1.4% and 1.1% respectively.