58% of stocks decline amid late-hour sell-offs

Stocks today (5 May) witnessed sell-offs, with prices declining for 58% of the scrips traded on the bourse, dragging down the DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), by 11 points.

A day after returning to positive territory on Monday snapping a two-session losing streak, stocks ended on the red. 

According to data of EBL Securities, among the top ten index draggers, eight were banking stocks, with City Bank leading the decline by shaving off 5 points. It was followed by BRAC Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Pubali Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Square Pharmaceuticals, NCC Bank, Bank Asia, and Grameenphone.

On the upside, Beximco Pharmaceuticals emerged as the top index gainer, contributing 11 points, followed by Beacon Pharmaceuticals, United Commercial Bank, Dominage Steel Building Systems, and Uttara Bank, the EBL data showed.

With a decline of 11 points, DSEX closed at 5,267 points, while DSES, the shariah index, surged 6 points to 1,060, and DS30, the blue-chip index, fell 6 points to 2,017, the DSE data showed. 

A total 393 stocks traded today, while 227 stocks or 58% saw price decline, 107 stocks price surges and 59 stocks price remained unchanged. 

Turnover, one of the major indicator, posted a decline around 5% to Tk876.95 crore and market cap, the value of total shares of the listed companies downed by Tk732 crore to Tk6.80 lakh crore. 

EBL Securities said the benchmark index of the Dhaka bourse resumed its downward trajectory as broad-based selling dominated the session, with banking stocks exerting a notable drag after post–record date adjustments.

 “Although the indices remained afloat through mid-session, the market lost traction in the final hour as broad-based selling pressure eroded earlier momentum, ultimately dragging the indices into negative territory by the close,” it said. 

On the sectoral front, Pharmaceutical and Chemical sector accounted for the highest share by 15.9% of turnover, followed by Bank 13.8% and Engineering sector stocks by 12.4%. 

Sectors mostly displayed mixed returns, out of which life insurance, tannery and services exerted the most corrections, while ceramic, paper and pharma exhibited some positive returns on the bourse today. 

Monno Ceramics topped the gainer chart as its shares price surged by 9.95% to Tk95 each, followed by Beximco Pharmaceuticals by 7.69% to Tk126 each, Dominage Steel Building Systems by 7.32% to Tk70.3 each, Sikder Insurance by 4.98% to Tk29.5 each, and Monno Agro by 4.46% to Tk348.9 each. 

While on the loser from, Apex Spinning was top loser as its shares price fell 8.59% to Tk330.6 each, followed by Premier Leasing by 8% to Tk2.3 each, GSP Finance by 6.97% to Tk4 each, Bay Leasing by 6.38% to Tk4.4 each, and Energypac Power Generation by 5.85% to Tk17.7 each. 

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also settled on a negative territory. 

The Selective Categories’ Index (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) lost 16.9 points and 31.9 points, respectively.