The Dhaka bourse displayed another session of free fall on Tuesday, extending the losing streak for third consecutive session as many investors offloaded shares amid lack of confidence and liquidity crisis.
The broad index of Dhaka Stock Exchange lost 204 points in last three sessions in a row.
At the end of Tuesday's session, the broad index (DSEX) lost 1.43 per cent or 81.92 points and settled at 5,623.64 points.
Of 336 issues traded, only 18 issues closed in green, while 291 issues went red and 27 remained unchanged on the premier bourse.
The market operators told a press briefing that the general investors were panicked over the liquidity crisis in the banking sector.
Amid free fall of the share prices, a section of investors staged demonstration in front of the DSE building in the city's Motijheel commercial area.
When contacted, former chairman of the securities regulator Dr. AB Mirza Azizul Islam said there is no valid reason behind the ongoing market fall.
"There remain some concerns among the investors over the selection process of strategic partner for the DSE. But, I think, they should not be worried about the issue," said Mr. Islam, who was an advisor to the last caretaker government.
The shariah based index (DSES) lost 1.3 per cent or 17.56 points to close at 1,333.19 points while DS30 index comprising blue chip securities declined 1.03 per cent or 21.90 points to close at 2,085.54 points.
The turnover stood at above Tk 2.82 billion, 5.33 per cent less than that of the previous session.
"Institutional investors are not positive in providing due support because of different complexities, including the calculation of exposure limit," president of DSE Brokers' Association Mostaque Ahmed Sadeque said on Tuesday.
Of the major sectors, bank declined 2.1 per cent, followed by financial institutions 1.9 per cent, engineering 1.4 per cent, telecommunication 1.0 per cent and pharmaceuticals & chemicals 0.7 per cent.
"Panicked investors liquidated their position from almost all the sectors, especially bank, financial institution, engineering, food and telecom, leading the index to close below 5,650 points after June 29, 2017," said a market review of International Leasing Securities.
Investors' participation was concentrated mostly on textile sector, which grabbed 17 per cent of the market turnover, followed by bank 15.7 per cent and engineering 13 per cent.
Meanwhile, Queen South Textile Mills, which made debut trading on the day, gained 225 per cent from its offer price of Tk 10 each.
The company also topped the scrip-wise turnover chart with a value of Tk 185 million, followed by Monno Ceramic Industries Tk 117 million, Grameenphone Tk 74 million and Square Pharmaceuticals Tk 63 million.
CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund was the number one gainer with a rise of 3.92 per cent to close at Tk 10.60 each.
On the other hand, Reliance Insurance was the worst loser after declining 11.36 per cent to close at Tk 49.90 each.
On Tuesday, majority number of securities listed with the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed in red and subsequently the benchmark index displayed a free fall throughout the whole session.
At the end of the session, the benchmark index CASPI closed at 17,385 points with a loss of 261 points.
Of 230 issues traded, only 18 advanced, 196 declined and 16 were unchanged and the turnover stood at above Tk 263 million on the port city bourse.
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