Stocks fall for second consecutive day

Stocks in Bangladesh fell for the second consecutive day today mainly because of a price fall in large-cap scrips.

The engineering sector experienced the highest loss of 1.74 percent followed by telecommunication 1.49 percent, non-bank financial institutions 1.28 percent and fuel & power 1.12 percent.

The banking sector also logged a loss of 0.89 percent followed by pharmaceuticals 0.52 percent and food and allied 0.45 percent.

As a result, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down 53 points, or 0.99 percent from the previous day to end the day at 5,330.

Likewise, the DSES, the index for the shariah-based companies, decreased 11 points, or 0.78 percent, to 1,166 while the DS30, the index for blue-chip stocks, slumped 18 points, or 0.96 percent, to 1,902.

However, the turnover, which indicates the total value of the day's trading, hit Tk 450 crore today, which was around 7.82 percent lower than that of the previous trading session.

The daily trade of the block market, meaning high volume transactions of privately negotiated securities outside the open market, contributed 3.5 percent of the overall market turnover.

Agni Systems was the most traded share with a turnover of Tk 27.6 crore.

Of the issues that traded on the country's premier bourse, 27 advanced, 332 declined and 33 remained unchanged.

Almost all the sectors closed in the negative territory, according to the daily market update by UCB Stock Brokerage.

The information technology, services & real estate and paper & printing were the top three sectors that closed on a negative note.

The pharmaceuticals sector dominated the turnover chart covering 20.99 percent of the day's total turnover.

Techno Drug topped the gainers' list with a rise of 9.89 percent followed by Renwick Jajneswar & Company Bangladesh, Libra Infusions, United Finance and Rupali Life Insurance Company.

Fareast Finance & Investment, Meghna Condensed Milk Industries, Esquire Knit Composite, Gemini Sea Food and Saiham Textile Mills were also on the gainers' chart.

Phoenix Insurance Company shed the most, losing by 3 percent, followed by Bangladesh Autocars, HR Textile, Rangpur Foundry and Janata Insurance Company with a close margin of over 2 percent.

Standard Insurance, Phoenix Finance and Investments, Sonargaon Textiles, Standard Ceramic Industries and Al-Haj Textile Mills also suffered losses.

Trust Islami Life Insurance, Legacy Footwear, National Tea Company and Bangladesh Lamps were also on the losers' list.

The Chattogram Stock Exchange witnessed a downward trend as the Caspi, the key index of the port city bourse, slipped by 113 points, or 0.73 percent, before getting settled at 15,273.