Profit-taking cools stock rally

Stocks ended flat yesterday on investors' profit-motivated sales of shares and mutual fund units.
DSEX, the benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, closed the day at 4,759.32 points, after falling 4.38 points or 0.09 percent.
DSES, the shariah index of the Dhaka bourse, closed the day at 995.74 points, after falling 0.85 points or 0.09 percent.
The apparent cooling-down of
the rally continued to spur investors to make quick profit, IDLC Investments said in its regular market analysis.
DSE traders were shaky. The market opened green, but hefty supply of some large-cap stocks offset the buy pressure and finally closed the index in the red, LankaBangla Securities said.
"The market is bracing for economic realism at present,” the stockbroker said.
An aggregate of 11.29 percent rise in imports in January and expectations of slides in inflation were the top economic influencing factors.
Investors appeared to be jittery about corporate profit, the stockbroker said.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, declined 6.73 percent to Tk 534 crore, compared to the previous day.   
A total of 1.12 lakh trades were executed with 9.59 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands on the Dhaka bourse.
Of the 287 issues that traded on the DSE floor, 136 advanced, 125 declined and 26 remained unchanged.
The highest return of 1.5 percent came from the power sector, followed by engineering 0.4 percent and non-bank financial institutions 0.1 percent. Cement fell 1.1 percent and banks 0.6 percent.
Delta Life Insurance featured in the most traded stocks chart with 16.48 lakh shares worth Tk 45 crore changing hands followed by Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Square Pharma and Olympic Industries.
Dhaka Electric Supply Company was the biggest gainer of the day, posting an 8.45 percent rise. Reckitt Benckiser was the worst loser, plunging by 5.96 percent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also declined yesterday with its selective categories index, CSCX, closing at 9,362 points, after falling 1.94 points.
Losers beat gainers strongly with 123 to 66, while 31 issues remained unchanged on the port city bourse that traded 1 crore shares and mutual fund units with Tk 48 crore in turnover.