Stock market newcomers lose the most

Newly listed companies suffered the biggest hits in the stock market yesterday as most had become overvalued in recent times.

Five such firms ended up in the top losers' list.

Meanwhile, Mir Akhter Hossain exhibited a break from norms and continued to be traded on in the second day past its appearance.

Normally, a new company remains in limbo on the first few days upon arrival due to a lack of sellers in the midst of a huge number of buyers.

The overvaluation should not have occurred, said a top official of a merchant bank.

Investors were buying the stocks without taking into consideration their real valuation and it ultimately turned into a hindrance for the market, he said.

So the correction was necessary for the new stocks, he added.

Energypac Power Generation, Robi Axiata, Crystal Insurance Company, Dominage Steel Building Systems and Associated Oxygen entered the list of top losers.

The mutual fund sector also shed some value as a falling trend has been sweeping through the market over the last couple of days.

The DSEX, the Dhaka Stock Exchange's benchmark index, rose 17.17 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 5,581.86 yesterday.

However, if the last 15 days are taken as a whole, it results in a drop of 328 points, or 5.55 per cent.

"The market is still undergoing a profit booking session," said Mir Ariful Islam, head of research of Prime Finance Asset Management Company.

"…but our general investors sell off shares in huge amounts whenever the market undergoes a correction, prolonging the profit booking session," he said.

As the market started a run from the 4,800 level, many investors are still in profitability, he said.

But investors need to be patient with good stocks as only then will they turn out to be winners, he added.

Meanwhile, turnover, an important indicator of the stock market, rose 13 per cent to Tk 794 crore.

Mir Akhter Hossain topped the gainers' list rising 23 per cent to Tk 100 followed by Sunlife Insurance Company, Prime Insurance Company, Phoenix Finance & Investments and LafargeHolcim Bangladesh.

Beximco topped the turnover list with trade worth Tk 92 crore followed by Robi Axiata, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Mir Akhter Hossain and Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

For the port city bourse, it was a drop. The CASPI, the general index of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), fell 31 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 16,166 yesterday.

Among 225 stocks to witness trade, 50 rose, 125 dropped and 50 remained the same.