FE Today Logo

Stocks plummet for third straight session

DSEX sheds 167 points in three sessions


FE Report | July 23, 2019 00:00:00


Stocks witnessed yet another steep fall for the third straight session on Monday, as shaky investors continued to dump their shares, fearing further drop in the coming days.

Market operators said investors continued their selling binge amid lack of confidence coupled with liquidity crisis in the money market.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, sank below the 'psychological' threshold of 5,000-mark, settling 67.30 points or 1.33 per cent lower at 4,966, the lowest level in 31 months since December 22, 2016 when the index was 4,956.

On Sunday, the DSEX fell 97 points, the biggest single-day slump in the last 17 months.

The recent sharp fall in index prompted the stock market regulator to form a committee on Sunday to find out the reasons behind the recent 'unusual' market fall.

The government's move to liquidate People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited (PLFSL), Grameenphone issue coupled with fund shortage continued to haunt the investor sentiment, said an analyst.

He noted that investors sold their shares following PLFSL's liquidation move as they feared some other companies in the financial sector might face the same fate due to their weak business performance.

From the very beginning of the trading session, panic-driven investors exerted selling pressure, pushing the index 108 points lower in the first hour. However, the market recovered some losses as the session progressed.

Two other indices also fell sharply. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 23.26 points to finish at 1,776 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 18.33 points to close at 1,139.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, rose to Tk 4.64 billion, up 26 per cent from the previous day's turnover of Tk 3.68 billion.

The banking sector dominated the day's turnover chart, capturing nearly 20 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by general insurance (11.2 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (11 per cent).

"The investors went for panic selling in anticipation of further fall amid their worries over the country's financial sector situation," commented the International Leasing Securities.

The stockbroker noted that the investors liquidated their position from all the sectors, which led the index to close below 5,000 points.

Major sectors suffered losses, with food sector posting the highest loss of 2.66 per cent, followed by engineering with 2.36 per cent, non-bank financial institutions 1.67 per cent, power 1.26 per cent, pharma 1.17 per cent, telecoms 0.90 per cent and banking 0.47 per cent.

The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 353 issues traded, 277 closed lower, 60 advanced and 16 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Fortune Shoes continued to top the turnover chart, with 5.43 million shares worth Tk 209 million changing hands.

The other turnover leaders were Square Pharma, United Power, Federal Insurance, Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Sinobangla Industries.

A total number of 126,695 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 166.02 million securities.

The market capitalisation of the DSE also came down to Tk 3,729 billion on Monday, from Tk 3,773 billion in the previous session.

Al-Haj Textile was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.95 per cent while Emerald Oil Industries was the worst loser, shedding 10 per cent.

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also saw sharp decline with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - falling 200 points to settle at 15,215 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - losing 115 points to finish at 9,257.

Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 216 issues closed lower, 48 ended higher and 22 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.

The port city bourse traded 8.82 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 212 million in turnover.

[email protected]


Share if you like