Stocks slipped back into the red on Sunday amid lack of investors' confidence in the ongoing bearish capital market.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 27.98 points or 0.53 per cent to settle at 5,238.
It was the lowest level of DSEX in four-and-a-half-months since December 18, 2018 when the core index was 5,233.
Market analysts said the worried investors continued their selling binge amid dearth of quality stocks, lack of confidence and shortage of liquidity, behind the latest erosion in stock prices.
Lower-than-expected divided and earning disclosures some of the companies during the trading session also made investors upset, said a leading broker.
ACI Limited's consolidated earnings per share (EPS) plunged to negative Tk 6.25 for January-March 2019 as against Tk 0.93 for January-March 2018.
The securities regulator called an emergency meeting with the DSE top brokers in the evening on Sunday. However, the news failed to lift the market.
EBL Securities said, the regulator continuously failed to address manipulations and wrongdoings in the market which eroded investors' confidence.
A group of aggrieved investors also took to the streets on Sunday in protest against inaction of the authorities concerned on market slump.
They also demanded immediate resignation of M Khairul Hossain, the chief of the capital market watchdog.
The aggrieved investors, under the banner of 'Bangladesh Pujibazar Biniogkari Oikya Parishad', demonstrated in front of the DSE building.
They condemned the Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for his latest harsh remarks on capital market.
The aggrieved investors announced that they would stage a token hunger strike in front of the DSE building today (Monday).
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 8.02 points to finish at 1,855 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 5.62 points to close at 1,209.
International Leasing Securities said the cautious investors continued their selling spree, while some others were busy in reshuffling their portfolios based on the quarterly earnings and year-end dividend declarations.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, fell to Tk 3.44 billion, which was 10 per cent lower than the previous day's Tk 3.82 billion.
Food sector witnessed the highest loss of 2.33 per cent, followed by non-bank financial institutions with 0.88 per cent, engineering 0.88 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.23 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -shedding 93 points to settle at 16,052 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -losing 59 points to finish at 9,710.
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