DGEN drops to 14-month low

FE Team | Published: November 27, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Dhaka stocks continued to tumble for the third straight day Wednesday with the benchmark DGEN dropped to the lowest in 14 months amid worries about the fate of the market that saw a sluggish trend over the last couple of months.
The DSE General Index (DGEN) lost 58.21 points, or 2.22 per cent, to close at 2,559.87, the lowest since September 25 last year when it hit 2558.55.
Two other market barometers - the All Shares Price Index (DSI) and the DSE20 blue chip index-shed 48.02 points and 49.18 points respectively to close at 2117.19 and 2174.18.
In the midst of the global financial meltdown, the country's stock market behaved well compared to the world stock markets, which declined by 50 per cent, Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters after emerging from a presentation on the proposed Book Building Method organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the day at the SEC office.
"The latest political situation centring on the upcoming national election remains a cause of concern for the investors," he said. The Finance Adviser, however, expressed the hope that the market would get back its pulse after the dusts on the political front settle down.
A DSE stockbroker said the selling pressure from most of the retail investors pulled down the share prices across the board as investors remained worried due to the long bear run.
On Sunday, the DGEN, however, posted its highest single-day surge in the last four months on positive political developments.
Of the total 239 issues traded, 26 advanced, 205 declined and eight remained unchanged.
"The market sentiment has become increasingly sour due to a dozen of factors including the ensuing national polls, the Hajj and the year-end book closure of financial institutions," said a merchant banker.
He added that the market had been suffering a liquidity crisis as financial institutions were holding up their investments before the yearend.
But the market has the full potential to rise at the speed it was falling, another merchant banker pointed out.
The day's total turnover, however, increased marginally to Tk 1.80 billion (180 crore) against the previous day's Tk 1.7 billion while the market capitalisation rose to Tk 976.24 billion from Tk 969.54 billion of the day before.
Uttara Bank topped the table of turnover leaders with shares worth Tk 175.14 million traded.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Titas Gas, Beximco, ACI, National Bank, Islami Bank, LankaBangla Finance, Square Pharmaceuticals, and AB Bank were the next other turnover leaders.
Chittagong stocks also dropped Wednesday for the third consecutive day.
The selective categories index of Chittagong Stock Exchange lost 114.91 points, or 2.17 per cent, to close at 5181.81, while its blue chip index, CSE30, shed 152.04 points, or 2.11 per cent, to finish at 7040.68.
Of the total 118 issues traded on the CSE floor, 10 posted gain, 107 dropped and one remained unchanged.