Stocks plunge on Dhaka bourse

Stocks slid for the third straight session Tuesday as nervous investors continued their sell-offs on heavyweight stocks fearing further fall.
DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 44.21 points or 0.64 per cent to settle at 6,837. The core index shed 147 points in the past three consecutive sessions.
Market analysts said investors kept their selling binge on major sector stocks amid fear of possible impact of the new coronavirus strain Omicron.
The investors were struggling with lack of confidence in the past few days due to tussle between two regulators while omicron infection in the country added worries to the investors, said a merchant banker.
Investors followed a cautious stance as Bangladesh reported the first two cases of the new coronavirus strain on Saturday that has already spread to nearly 80 countries since its first detection in South Africa in early November.
He noted that most of the investors released their holdings after noticing that the heavyweight stocks are witnessing price fall, putting further pressure on the indices.
Five large-cap stocks such as Grameenphone, Robi, British American Tobacco, Square Pharma and Walton, jointly contributed 27 points fall of DSEX, according to amarstock.com.
Since the trading activity is volatile in the market, most of the investors kept selling shares and favoured sitting on cash ahead of year-end adjustments, said EBL Securities.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 10.80 billion, which was 55 per cent higher than the previous day's eight-month lowest turnover of Tk 6.96 billion.
Top ten traded stocks captured 45 per cent of the total trade, where ONE Bank captured nearly 12 per cent alone of the total trade. But the bank's share price plunged further by 7.01 per cent after recent price surge.
In a major development, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has asked the bourses to offload 35 per cent shares in the stock market in line with the demutualisation scheme.
The regulator on Monday instructed the bourses to submit detailed proposals of listing in compliance with the demutualisation act and scheme and other securities laws by January 10, 2022.
All the major sectors faced selling pressures, leading to the share price erosions of more than 66 per cent traded stocks. Out of 377 issues traded, 249 closed lower, 88 higher and 40 remained unchanged.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, dropped 16.90 points to finish at 2,568 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 3.65 points to close at 1,456.
However, the low-paid up companies' share continued to surge as the stock market regulator ordered 64 low-paid-up listed firms to increase their paid-up capital at least to Tk 300 million by June next year.
Besides, the securities regulator asked 27 listed companies' directors to ensure mandatory 30 per cent share shareholding jointly in their respective firms within a month.
Major sectors suffered losses with telecom was the biggest loser, losing 1.30 per cent, followed by financial institutions with 1.0 per cent, banking 0.90 per cent, engineering 0.70 per cent, power 0.60 per cent and pharma 0.30 per cent.
ONE Bank was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 1.25 billion changing hands, followed by Fortune Shoes, Beximco, Genex Infosys and GSP Finance.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended sharply lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 173 points to settle at 19,984 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-- shedding 104 points to close at 12,007.
Of the issues traded, 175 declined, 71 advanced and 24 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port-city bourse traded 9.99 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 254 million.

[email protected]