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Stocks drift lower after bumpy ride

DSE daily turnover remains below Tk 7.0b mark


FE REPORT | March 22, 2022 00:00:00


The market ended marginally lower on Monday, after the previous day's sharp decline, as the investors remained cautious to pour funds in stocks amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

DSEX, the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went down by 6.26 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 6,691, after losing over 67 points in the previous day.

Two other indices, however, edged higher with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, gaining 1.30 points to finish at 2,436 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) saw a fractional loss of 0.21 point to close at 1,441.

Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 6.34 billion, which was 2.92 per cent higher than the previous day's 11-month lowest turnover of Tk 6.16 billion.

Market analysts said investors remained worried about the possible adverse impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the country's economy while some were reluctant to pour fresh funds in stocks amid rising inflations.

The ongoing pessimism kept investors mostly indecisive to put fresh bets on stocks, according to a leading merchant banker.

He noted that Bangladesh Bank has a directive to adjust the deposit rate so that it cannot lower the inflation rate.

"As the inflation rate is rising, the bank deposit rate also may rise which lures many investors to put money in banks instead of investing in the capital market".

The investors' participation was sluggish as the lower limit circuit breaker caused investors to remain on the sideline, said a stockbroker.

The cautious investors' participation in the market lowered as the rumour of normalisation of the lower circuit breaker ran rife, according to International Leasing Securities.

The stockbroker noted that the jittery investors are following the 'wait-and-see' approach as they are expecting the positive regulatory interventions.

Most of the sectors faced corrections. The IT sector suffered the most with 1.70 per cent loss, followed by financial institutions with 1.20 per cent, telecom 0.70 per cent, banking 0.10 per cent and cement 0.10 per cent.

On the other hand, miscellaneous, food and pharma sectors gained 0.50 per cent, 0.30 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 380 issues traded, 242 declined, 100 advanced and 38 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Beximco topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 456 million changing hands, followed by Dragon Sweater (Tk 266 million), BDCOM Online (Tk 232), Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 221 million) Silco Pharma (Tk 161 million).

Low-cap companies continued to dominate the gainers chart with Gemini Sea Food being the top gainer, posting 7.83 per cent rise, while Aamra Technologies was the day's worst loser, losing 1.99 per cent.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 39 points to settle at 19,616 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - shedding 23 points to close at 11,767.

Of the issues traded, 198 declined, 57 advanced and 28 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port-city bourse traded 6.76 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth over Tk 171 million.

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