Stocks fell further Sunday, with prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dipping below 4,100-mark after 18 months as investors’ selling spree continued fearing further fall of stock prices.
The market opened with a downward trend which continued till closure of the session. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE came down below the 4,100-mark and ended at 4,094.27 points, plunging by 97.72 points or 2.33 per cent.
It was also the lowest level of DSEX since November 5, 2013, when it was 4,090.12 points. DSEX lost around 278 points or 6.47 per cent in the last five straight sessions.
The two other indices also saw sharp decline. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips plummeted 34.62 points or 2.17 per cent to close at 1,558.13 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) fell 20.53 points or 2.00 per cent to close at 1,004.34 points.
Trading at DSE remained sluggish. The total turnover amounted to Tk 3.41 billon, which was 9.54 per cent lower over the previous session's value of Tk 3.77 billion.
"Fear of political unrest has cast a dark shadow over the market which is gradually absorbing the liquidity and vitality of the market," said a merchant banker.
The market faced the steepest single-day fall Sunday in the last 21 months as the broad index DSEX went down significantly by 97.73 points and dipped below 4,100-mark, closing at 18-month low, said BRAC EPL, a stock broker.
"The prime bourse witnessed a major setback amid the panicky sell pressure from the investors," said International Leasing Securities, in an analysis.
"Fear of further fall in the stock prices due to the gloomy economic outlook caused the bourse to extend its bearish spell for the five consecutive sessions," said the International Leasing.
Moreover, big players and institutional investors kept aside them from the market, triggering the market to dip further, said the International Leasing.
"The selling frenzy that started five days ago continued and market took another hard hit. Investors are very cautious as they are pondering about which direction the market will take after the upcoming City Corporation Elections," said LankaBangla Securities, in an analysis.
The Benchmark index lost almost a hundred points. All the sectors faced the frenzy of panic sell, said the stock broker.
The financial sector experienced heavy correction with NBFIs losing a hefty 4.07 per cent and banks losing 2.47 per cent. Power registered heavy loss of 3.08 per cent. Pharmaceuticals retraced by 2.39 per cent.
Telecommunication and cement went down by 1.72 per cent and 1.40 per cent respectively. Food and allied also lost a significant 1.30 per cent.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 307 issues traded, 248 declined, 37 advanced and 22 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw sharp decline with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - slumped 166.90 points to close at 7,648.09 points.
Losers beat gainers 181 to 26, with 16 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 8.59 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 328.57 million.
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