DSE shares keep sliding amid pervasive gloom
FE Report | Tuesday, 1 March 2011
FE Report
Dhaka stocks continued to dip for the fifth straight session, hitting 13 months' low Monday which prompted hundreds of angry investors to take to the street and demonstrate in front of the country's premier bourse, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). The news of buying shares by state-owned financial institutions failed to attract investors as DSE General Index (DGEN), the benchmark index of the market, ended at 5,203.08 points, shedding 4.76 per cent or 260.27 points, the lowest since January 24 of last year when DGEN was at 5,156.62 points. The index lost more than 1,185 points or 17 per cent in the consecutive five trading sessions, and from its highest value of 8,918.51 as on December 5, 2010, it lost 44 per cent or 3,715 points. The day's total turnover stood at only Tk 4.89 billion in value terms, down by 2.4 per cent compared to the previous session. Nearly 85 per cent scripts lost in prices on the day as out of 252 issues traded, only 30 advanced, 213 declined and nine remained unchanged. The aggrieved investors came into the street from the different brokerage houses at about 11.50am, when the benchmark index of the DGEN shed more than 200 points. They blocked the road in front of the DSE building, staged demonstrations and chanted slogans against the finance minister for his latest comment on the share market and investors. Later, the angry investors staged a sit-in, in front of DSE. The finance minister last Sunday was reported to have said at the Jatiya Sangsad that 0.1 million new investors entered the stock market, when it experienced the downfall and many investors injected more money into the market when it was on a downward trend and that was the reason why they were being punished. "I don't understand their behaviour..do they come for speculations?" He reportedly told parliament, replying to a question from Awami League MP Abdur Rahman. Many investors blamed the finance minister's comments for the day's market fall. Some of the angry investors also hurled brickbats at the police from the Madhumita building. Vehicle movement at the bustling business hub from Motijheel Shapla Chattar up to Ittefaq crossing, came to a halt for about two hours. However, it was restored at around 2pm. Police and members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) took strong position in front of the DSE main building and brought the situation under control without any untoward incident. Meanwhile, the market opened with a negative note in the morning and fell by more than 180 points within fifteen minutes. It recovered some points in the mid-session, then fell steadily and finally closed at 260 points lower. The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) lost 215.76 points or 4.76 per cent to 4317.89. The DSE-20, including its blue chips index, dropped 4.69 per cent or 172.99 points to 3514.51. A total of 52.80 million shares changed hands against 54.91 million in the previous trading session. The number of trade deals stood at 121,467 which was 121,536 on Sunday. The total market capitalisation came down to Tk 2413.07 billion against Tk 2,512.87 billion in the previous session. Extreme confidence-loss among the small investors, liquidity crunch and inactivity of most of the big and institutional investors in the current volatile situation are the main reasons of the market fall, dealers said. The market lost across the board with most of the major sectors losing in big margin with telecommunication losing 6.61 per cent, non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) 6.02 per cent, banks 4.94 per cent and pharmaceuticals 3.77 per cent.
Dhaka stocks continued to dip for the fifth straight session, hitting 13 months' low Monday which prompted hundreds of angry investors to take to the street and demonstrate in front of the country's premier bourse, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). The news of buying shares by state-owned financial institutions failed to attract investors as DSE General Index (DGEN), the benchmark index of the market, ended at 5,203.08 points, shedding 4.76 per cent or 260.27 points, the lowest since January 24 of last year when DGEN was at 5,156.62 points. The index lost more than 1,185 points or 17 per cent in the consecutive five trading sessions, and from its highest value of 8,918.51 as on December 5, 2010, it lost 44 per cent or 3,715 points. The day's total turnover stood at only Tk 4.89 billion in value terms, down by 2.4 per cent compared to the previous session. Nearly 85 per cent scripts lost in prices on the day as out of 252 issues traded, only 30 advanced, 213 declined and nine remained unchanged. The aggrieved investors came into the street from the different brokerage houses at about 11.50am, when the benchmark index of the DGEN shed more than 200 points. They blocked the road in front of the DSE building, staged demonstrations and chanted slogans against the finance minister for his latest comment on the share market and investors. Later, the angry investors staged a sit-in, in front of DSE. The finance minister last Sunday was reported to have said at the Jatiya Sangsad that 0.1 million new investors entered the stock market, when it experienced the downfall and many investors injected more money into the market when it was on a downward trend and that was the reason why they were being punished. "I don't understand their behaviour..do they come for speculations?" He reportedly told parliament, replying to a question from Awami League MP Abdur Rahman. Many investors blamed the finance minister's comments for the day's market fall. Some of the angry investors also hurled brickbats at the police from the Madhumita building. Vehicle movement at the bustling business hub from Motijheel Shapla Chattar up to Ittefaq crossing, came to a halt for about two hours. However, it was restored at around 2pm. Police and members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) took strong position in front of the DSE main building and brought the situation under control without any untoward incident. Meanwhile, the market opened with a negative note in the morning and fell by more than 180 points within fifteen minutes. It recovered some points in the mid-session, then fell steadily and finally closed at 260 points lower. The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) lost 215.76 points or 4.76 per cent to 4317.89. The DSE-20, including its blue chips index, dropped 4.69 per cent or 172.99 points to 3514.51. A total of 52.80 million shares changed hands against 54.91 million in the previous trading session. The number of trade deals stood at 121,467 which was 121,536 on Sunday. The total market capitalisation came down to Tk 2413.07 billion against Tk 2,512.87 billion in the previous session. Extreme confidence-loss among the small investors, liquidity crunch and inactivity of most of the big and institutional investors in the current volatile situation are the main reasons of the market fall, dealers said. The market lost across the board with most of the major sectors losing in big margin with telecommunication losing 6.61 per cent, non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) 6.02 per cent, banks 4.94 per cent and pharmaceuticals 3.77 per cent.