Stocks declined for the second day yesterday, as investors offloaded shares to pocket profits.

DSEX, the benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, fell 23.94 points or 0.48 percent to close at 4,914.71, the lowest in a month.

DSES, the shariah index of the Dhaka bourse, lost 9.86 points or 0.85 percent to close at 1,147.99.

The market slipped for the second consecutive session despite strong participation of investors, IDLC Investments said.

Additionally, recent chaos due to nationwide strike and fear of continuous fall in price for most of the scrips hit investor sentiment hard, the investment banker said.

Among the major equity market updates, companies will be barred from using more than a third of the funds raised in an initial public offering to repay loans, according to Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.

The regulatory move will encourage capital expenditure in business expan-

sion by the companies that go public, commented LankaBangla Securities.

Turnover, one of the most important indicators of the market, declined 17.3 percent to Tk 708 crore compared with the previous day.

A total of 1.43 lakh trades were executed with 15.97 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands on the premierbourse.

Losers beat gainers with 148 to 127 and 27 issues remained unchanged out of the 302 issues that traded on the DSE.

Among the major sectors: non-bank financial institutions gained 1.1 percent and telecoms 1.1 percent.

Fuel and power lost 0.6 percent followed by engineering 1 percent and pharma 0.5 percent.

Western Marine Shipyard was the most liquid stock of the day with 66.55 lakh shares worth Tk 56 crore changing hands, followed by Desco, Barkatullah Electro Dynamics, Keya Cosmetics and Lafarge Surma Cement.

Orion Infusion was the highest gainer of the day, posting a 9.93 percent rise, while Western Marine Shipyard was the worst loser, falling by 9.96 percent.