Dhaka stocks fell broadly on Monday, sending the benchmark index to a five-month low as most sectors ended in the red.
The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), lost 51.57 points, or 0.96 per cent, to close at 5,333.58 points, its lowest level since 1 June.
Food suffered the steepest sectoral loss, falling 3.8 per cent, followed by mutual funds and paper, each down 2.4 per cent. Textiles were the only sector to finish higher, gaining 0.7 per cent.
The decline was widespread. Of 386 issues traded, 249 fell, 86 advanced and 51 remained unchanged.
The DS30, which tracks blue-chip stocks, dropped 26.29 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 2,042.14 points, while the DSE Shariah Index fell 8.12 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 1,037.81 points.
ELB Securities attributed the weakness to three factors – uncertainty over domestic conditions, investor caution during the ongoing earnings season and a lack of fresh positive triggers.
Those concerns kept buyers on the sidelines and encouraged selling across most sectors, pushing the DSEX lower throughout the session.
Turnover fell 13.27 per cent to Tk418.22 crore from Tk482.20 crore in the previous session, a drop of Tk63.97 crore.
Trading volume declined 2.79 per cent to 17.02 crore shares from 17.51 crore, although the number of transactions edged up to 1,64,394 from 1,63,564.
The selloff erased Tk6,035.80 crore from market capitalisation, which fell 0.90 per cent to Tk6,68,112 crore from Tk6,74,147.80 crore.
Textiles also accounted for the largest share of trading, with Tk99.09 crore in turnover, or 24.17 per cent of reported sectoral traded value. General insurance followed with Tk53.83 crore, mutual funds Tk42.92 crore, banks Tk39.51 crore and pharmaceuticals and chemicals Tk38.58 crore.
Prime Textile Spinning Mills was the day’s top gainer, rising 9.77 per cent to Tk14.60. Silva Pharmaceuticals gained 8.82 per cent to Tk11.10, while Union Capital advanced 8.16 per cent to Tk5.30.
Usmania Glass Sheet Factory rose 7.95 per cent and Agrani Insurance gained 7.40 per cent.
CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund led the losers, falling 8.07 per cent to Tk14.80. First Janata Bank Mutual Fund dropped 5.71 per cent to Tk3.30, while IBBL Mudaraba Perpetual Bond lost 5.62 per cent to Tk587.50.
Gemini Sea Food and IFIC Bank First Mutual Fund declined 5.50 per cent and 5.41 per cent, respectively.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also closed lower, with the CSCX losing 63.5 points and the CASPI dropping 104.6 points.
