Dhaka stocks slip

Equities on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended lower today as large-cap losses erased gains of the previous session. Meanwhile, the turnover also declined.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the bourse, fell 55.43 points, or 1 percent, to close at 5,468.35, according to DSE data.

The Shariah-based DSES dropped 0.91 percent to 1,185.39, while the blue-chip DS30 went down 1.02 percent to 2,129.04.

Turnover, a key indicator of investor activity, stood at Tk 732.56 crore, down from Tk 778.32 crore in the previous session.

"The market closed in red as all the large-cap sectors posted negative performance today," said BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Ltd in its daily market update.

Block trades, high-volume transactions involving large numbers of securities, accounted for Tk 9.50 crore across several scrips.

Market breadth was negative, with 67 issues advancing against 275 declining, while 56 remained unchanged.

Among the major sectors, non-bank financial institutions registered the highest loss of 2.37 percent, followed by banks (1.26 percent), telecommunications (1.19 percent), fuel and power (1.14 percent), engineering (0.59 percent), food and allied (0.53 percent) and pharmaceuticals (0.11 percent), BRAC EPL said.

In other segments, mutual funds saw seven issues advance and 11 decline; corporate bonds posted three gainers and one loser; while the government bond market remained inactive.

On the day's performance table, S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels surged 9.68 percent to top the gainers' list, while Peoples Leasing and Social Islami Bank dropped 9.26 percent, becoming the worst performers of the session.