Dhaka stocks go back to red again

FE Report Dhaka stocks witnessed sharp fall again Monday after two sessions' gain with lower turnover, as the latest move of private commercial banks apparently failed to revive investors' confidence and bring back stability in the market. Market insiders said all positive steps to rejuvenate the capital market and to revive the investors' confidence failed to put the expected impact on the market. Rather, the falling trend is deepening which has disappointed many investors. The market witnessed volatile trading for the first 45 minutes with the DGEN gyrating between red and green. Thereafter, lack of buying pressure amongst traders pushed the index down and ended the day in negative territory. The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN), the main gauge of the market, plummeted 180.62 points or 3.19 per cent to close at 5,473.61. The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) shed 150.87 points or 3.18 per cent to close at 4,580.58. The DSE-20 blue-chip index also fell 8546 points or 2.12 per cent to close at 3,927.43. Mr Akter H Sannamat, a chartered accountant and capital market expert, said the investors' confidence has been shaken again, as the private commercial banks moved from their last Thursday's stand. "The investors saw some hope of ray following the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) Thursday's announcement of investing money in the capital market to prop up the falling market," said Mr Sannamat. "But, the Bangladesh Association of Bankers (BAB)'s latest announcement of investing Tk 10 billion initially out of Tk 50 billion market stabilisation fund (MSF) disappointed many investors, as it would take time to launch and the fund size also came down to Tk 10 billion," Mr Sammat said. The banks should play supportive role in the market immediately, as the market is facing liquidity crisis and for that they should work together but should go for investment individually, he added. Earlier on Thursday last, the ABB also decided to invest more in the market from Sunday to prop up the falling market. A stock broker said the traders are expecting active participation of institutional investors after BAB and ABB's announcement but they are now disappointed, as the institutional investors are yet to become active in the market. In the last two trading session ---Thursday and Sunday---the market gained about 400 points following the news of ABB and BAB showing a sign of recovery from persisting downtrend over the several weeks that triggered protests by the investors. However, market insiders said many investors sold their shares off to take some profit and minimise their previous losses, as the market gained nearly 400 points in the last two sessions. "Sell pressure intensified the day's trading, as many investors wanted to sell off their shares when the market went up slightly and many of them wanted to quit the market," a stock broker commented. Prices of almost all issues traded on the day declined. Out of 256 issues traded, only 13 advanced, 242 declined and one remained unchanged. The total turnover value declined to Tk 4.19 billion in value terms, down by 31.98 per cent against Tk 6.16 billion in the previous session. A total of 58.37 million shares changed hands on the day against 84.85 million in the previous session. The trade deals also declined to 115,498 against Sunday's 157,786. Total market capitalisation of the DSE declined to Tk 2,681.01 billion against Tk 2,746.79 billion in the previous session. All sectors ended in the red, as sell pressure was witnessed all across the board. Among the major sectors---banking sector lost 2.82 per cent, whereas NBFIs, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and fuel and power lost 4.37 per cent, 0.51 per cent, 3.04 per cent and 2.56 per cent respectively. City Bank topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 161.19 million changed hands. The other turnover leaders were UCBL, GP, National Bank, Beximco Limited, SIBL, ONE Bank, Summit Power, Fourth ICB, MI Cement and Titas Gas.