Stocks slide for 2nd day in dull trade

Stocks dropped for the second consecutive session yesterday in dull trading.

The market was in positive territory in the first session, but profit-taking selling pressure particularly large cap issues pulled down the market.

The benchmark DSEX was down 28 points or 0.7% to 4,549, hitting highest 4,594 in the morning and lowest 4,549 in the final session.

The Shariah index, DSES, dropped almost 9 points or 0.9% to 1,057.

The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,713, falling 12 points or 0.8%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, shed 74 points to 8,584.

Trading activities took a jolt as turnover at DSE dipped below Tk500 crore mark and stood at Tk494 crore. It was the lowest in the last two weeks and was 21.9% lower over the previous session.

Rally in textile, food and allied, and telecommunication saved the market from falling sharply.

Profit booking took place in bank, non-banking financial institutions, cement, energy and pharmaceuticals stocks.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market lost 28 points amid weaker participation by investors.

This lower participation by investors can be attributed to the half-day nationwide strike, it said.

IDLC Investments said since scrip-wise swings sustained for second consecutive session, with 59 of the total traded scrips changing more than 3%, investors extended their meticulous tone.

Zenith Investments said market trimmed gains from early morning trade.

Some major stocks which bullied the market for quite some time, were severely hammered by the profit-taking activities of the investors, it said.

It said a few multinational companies on the other hand showed nifty gains at the last moment, but failed to create any significant impact on the overall market.

Beximco Limited continued to top the turnover chart for the eight straight sessions with shares worth Tk40 crore changing hands, followed by Beximco Pharma, Mobil Jamuna Limited Bangladesh, Golden Son, Bangladesh Building and Grameenphone.