DHAKA, Aug 24: Dhaka stocks ended lower on Saturday as pharmaceutical and cement shares fell on profit taking, brokers said.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) benchmark index fell 2.99 points or 0.34 percent to 872.69.

Losers led gainers by 87 to 61 with 34 remaining unchanged, the DSE said in a statement.

The DSE-20 index for selected blue chips lost 7.06 points or 0.62 per cent to 1,114.27.

The indices lost points for losses suffered by shares in mainly pharmaceutical, cement and engineering sectors. These shares fell due to profit taking by investors, one broker said.

Chittagong Cement fell 1.96 per cent to 810.75 taka on 2,305 shares valued at $0.03 million.

Beximco Pharma, a top drug manufacturer and exporter, fell 0.65 percent to 45.7 taka on 55,450 shares valued at $0.04 million.

Saturday’s overall turnover totalled $1.71 million, down $0.01 million from the previous trading session on Thursday. The market was closed on Friday for the Muslim weekend.

Some 3.33 million shares changed hands on the day against 3.43 million in the previous session.—Reuters