Fresh political unease weighs on stocks

Stocks tumbled Monday for four sessions in a row with key index of the prime bourse dipping below 4,400-mark after eight months as investors went for selling spree.
The market opened higher for a brief period, but started to dive till close of the session on intense selling pressure following fresh 48-hour hartal, enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami from today (Tuesday).
An analyst said the pessimism turned into panic on the day over fear of political unrest ahead following a verdict on war crime case. As a result, indices kept sliding for the fourth session.
The Supreme Court Monday upheld its previous verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, rejecting his plea for reviewing death penalty for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), came down below the ‘psychological’ threshold of 4,400-mark after eight months since July 23 last year and ended at 4,397.25 points, shedding 33.85 points or 0.76 per cent. DSEX lost 133 points in the last four consecutive sessions.
The two others indices also ended in the red zone. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 11.06 points or 0.65 per cent to close at 1,685.73 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) plunged 9.61 points or 0.88 per cent to close at 1,075.05 points.
Trading at DSE was relatively sluggish. The total turnover on DSE came down to Tk 3.05 billion, registering a decline of 2.01 per cent over the previous day’s value of Tk 3.11 billion.
Lankabangla Securities, a stock brokerage firm, said the day started on a positive note after previous day’s political calm. But the situation deteriorated after announcement of two day-long countrywide shutdown after the verdict on a war crime case.
“The bearish spell endured for four consecutive sessions dented investors’ confidence,” International Leasing Securities, a stock brokerage firm in an analysis.
The market participants might have reacted negatively to the news of hartal. Investors decided to book quick profit and stay on the sideline as anxiety and indecisiveness lingered, said the International Leasing.
All the major sectors closed in the red territory. Power registered the highest loss among the major sectors in the session. Pharmaceuticals experienced a correction of 0.99 per cent.
Telecommunication went down by 0.93 per cent and food and allied closed 0.38 per cent lower. In the financial sectors - banks and NBFIs both retraced by 0.34 per cent and 1.05 per cent respectively.  Cement closed flat in red with 0.08 per cent.  
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 310 issues traded, 218 declined, 56 advanced and 36 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Activities decreased in the major bourse where and trade were down by 12.97 per cent, but volume was up by 7.46 per cent. A total number of 0.104 million trades were executed with trading volume of 65.35 million securities.
The market capitalisation on DSE stood at Tk 3,136.73 billion against Tk 3,159.49 billion in the previous session.
Newly listed United Power Company was the day’s top turnover chart with shares worth Tk 288.27 million changing hands followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, Shasha Denims, IFAD Autos and ACI.
Bangladesh Lamps was the day’s top gainer, positing a rise of 10.78 per cent while Dulamia Cotton was the worst loser, plunging by 8.97 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower for the four sessions in a row with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – lost 78.66 points to close at 8,177.58 points.
Losers beat gainers 179 to 36, with 24 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 7.05 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 289.65 million.
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