Dhaka stocks fell again on Monday after a gain in the previous session, as investors started selling shares to realise their gains amid a prolonged bearish vibe on the market, market operators said.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, decreased by 29.96 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 5,666.76 points on the day after gaining 35.67 points in the previous trading session.
Market operators said that many investors were showing reluctance to be actively involved in the market, which led the turnover to reach its lowest in the current week.
The turnover on the Dhaka bourse on Monday was Tk聽968.02 crore, which was Tk聽985.88 crore in the previous session.
The market was on a downward trend for three straight sessions before Sunday.
Market operators said that the Bangladesh Bank鈥檚 decision on increasing repo rates, which may lead to interest rate hikes in the money market, would not be helpful for the capital market, as investors might shift funds to banks.
They said that the devaluation of the taka against the dollar might add to the depressed state of the market.
In the past 12 weeks, the market moved forward in only three weeks, including the past two weeks.
They also said that multiple other factors were working behind the bearish trend of stocks, such as lack of investor confidence amid economic woes in the country and global geopolitical tensions, liquidity crisis in banks and sudden change of policies.
Of the 393 issues traded on the day, 135 advanced, 221 declined and 37 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 8.94 points, or 0.71 per cent, to close at 1,241.53 points on Monday.
The DS30 index lost 8.62 points, or 0.42 per cent, to finish at 2,017.97 points.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by textile and engineering stocks.
EBL securities in its daily commentary said, 鈥楾he market observed selling dominance for the majority of Monday鈥檚 session as the market pulse shifted to correction mode again since cautious investors opted to realise their short-term gains due to waning confidence regarding the market momentum.鈥�
鈥楬owever, some insurance stocks regained momentum owing to the buying appetite of short-term gain-focused investors, with optimism surrounding the earnings declarations for the recent quarter,鈥� it added.
eGeneration topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk聽38.83 crore changing hands.
Asiatic Laboratories, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Best Holdings, Golden Son, Advent Pharma, Orion Infusion, Fu-Wang Ceramic Industries, Salvo Chemical Industry and Navana Pharmaceuticals were the other turnover leaders.