Stocks plunge with thin participation

Stocks fell sharply on Sunday, extending the losing spell for the five consecutive sessions with thin participation, as the investors went on panic-driven sell-offs.

The market opened with a steep fall and prime index of the major bourse dipped below the 4,500-level at 12.50pm, but some buying in the late hour helped to close above the 4,500-mark.

At the end of the session, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange -- DSEX, settled at 4,514.85, after slumping 49.63 points or 1.08 per cent. DSEX eroded nearly 135 points in the past five trading sessions.

The two others indices also saw steep fall. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, plummeted 16.94 points or 0.98 per cent to end at 1,709.03. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) dropped 11.02 points or 1.00 per cent to finish at 1,081.28.

The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 317 traded issues, 242 closed lower, 48 higher and 27 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Khulna Power Company dominated the day’s turnover chart with shares of Tk 115 million changing hands followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, IFAD Autos, Samorita Hospital and KDS Accessories.

Miracle Industries was the day’s best performer, posting a rise of 9.6 per cent while Samata Leather Complex was the day’s worst loser, plunging by 23.77 per cent.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw steep fall with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – plunging 104.21 points to end at 8,387.40.

Losers beat gain gainers 186 to 27, with 16 issues remaining unchanged on the port city bourse that traded 6.09 million shares and mutual fund units with a value of Tk 169.49 million.

 -RMC-