Stocks slipped into the red on Sunday, after a single-day break, with turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange tumbling below Tk 4.0 billion-mark, as prolonged pessimism kept investors inactive.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, came down to Tk 3.94 billion on the DSE, which was 25.5 per cent lower than the previous day's mark of Tk 5.29 billion.
It was also the lowest single-day transactions in more than a year since April 5, 2021, when turnover totalled Tk 2.37 billion.
Along with the sluggish turnover, DSEX, the prime index of DSE, went down by 30.10 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 6,554, after gaining nearly 11 points in the previous session.
Two other indices also edged lower. The DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, fell 5.44 points to finish at 2,435 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 5.56 points to close at 1,442.
Market insiders said the investors were mostly reluctant to put fresh bets on stocks as they were continuously losing their risk taking appetite amid persistent volatility in the market.
Turnover dropped to one year low further as the liquidity shortage in the capital market exacerbated further amid growing consumption in Ramadan and the upcoming spending spree centering Eid Festival, according to a merchant banker.
He noted that the looming uncertainty over the global economy and the commodity market instability continued to dampen the investor sentiment.
"Worries of investors loomed amid global economic turbulence due to commodity market volatility and price hikes for necessities, resulting in a liquidity constraint in the market as most investors are afraid to engage in the market at the moment," EBL Securities said.
The recent regulatory intervention failed to recover investors' sentiment as the Russia-Ukraine war escalates inflationary pressure on the economy further, said a leading broker.
The most investors remained shaky amid the rising cost of living and potential adverse impacts on the country's economy, he said.
"So the investors were mostly inactive to put fresh bets on stocks rather they were selling shares to avoid further losses in the bearish market," he said.
Most of the major sectors faced corrections with the general insurance losing the most of 1.20 per cent, followed by textile with 1.10 per cent, cement 0.70 per cent, engineering 0.60 per cent, power 0.30 per cent and pharma 0.20 per cent.
On the other hand telecom and food sectors gained 0.50 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 379 issues traded, 280 declined, 58 advanced and 41 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 411 million changing hands, followed by Sonali Paper & Board Mills (Tk 293 million), Salvo Chemicals (Tk 99 million), Pharma Aids (Tk 83 million) and GSP Finance (Tk 82 million).
The newly listed JMI Hospital Requisite Manufacturing continued to top gainers' chart, posting a 9.92 per cent gain, while Bangladesh Finance was the day's worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 64 points to settle at 19,302 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -shedding 38 points to close at 11,580.
Of the issues traded, 173 declined, 50 advanced and 39 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port-city bourse traded 5.16 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth over Tk 149 million.
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