Stocks fall on profit booking

The country's stocks dropped yesterday due to a profit booking tendency among investors while the market turnover rose.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dropped 23 points, or 0.37 per cent to 6,196.57.

The index reached a three-and-a-half-year high on Monday with many stocks advancing by 10 to 15 per cent in the last few days, according to a merchant banker.

"So investors took in the profit now," he said, adding that the profit booking tendency improves the market in the long term.

That is why investors should not fear the fall and instead should invest based on the companies' performances, he said.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, rose 15 per cent to Tk 1,789 crore whereas it was Tk 1,551 crore a day earlier.

Although the market has been on a rising trend for the last few months, many junk stocks and low profit-making companies have risen day by day mainly due to rumour-based trading, said a stock broker preferring anonymity.

"These stocks are creating a balloon in the market that could burst at any time and so investors need to be cautious," he added.

Since companies with good performance records survive even at the toughest of times, investors should seek out companies based on their fundamentals, he said.

"If they invest in well-performing companies, investors remain unscathed even if the market falls because these companies provide good dividends," said the broker.

At the DSE, 142 stocks advanced, 244 declined and eight remained unchanged.

Fareast Finance & Investment topped the gainers' list, rising 10 per cent, followed by Paper Processing & Packaging, Sonali Life Insurance, FAS Finance & Investment, and Generation Next Fashions.

Stock of Beximco were traded the most with Tk 93 crore worth of shares changing hands, followed by LankaBangla Finance, Aman Feed, Keya Cosmetics, and ML Dyeing.

Malek Spinning Mills shed the most, falling 7.12 per cent, followed by Sonargaon Textiles, Dhaka Insurance, Metro Spinning, and Sonali Paper & Board Mills.

The port city bourse also fell yesterday. The CASPI, the general index of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), nosedived 79 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 17,956.

Among 312 stocks to undergo trade, 134 advanced, 166 dropped and 12 remained unchanged.

The CSE announced that investors can now safely and reliably conduct trading activities through the bourse's Internet Trading Service (ITS) and mobile application "CHITRA", according to a press release issued yesterday.

Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, local investors can comfortably trade digitally through websites, it said.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) in a directive on June 30 instructed both the DSE and CSE to promote their digital platforms to enable investors to trade from home instead of being physically present at their respective brokers' offices.

"The CSE's state of art ITS facility and android mobile application CHITRA can provide uninterrupted trading facilities for investors. These digital channels can ensure faster and real time online trading facility," it added.

The DSE mobile app is also running for investors to conduct trade online.