Stocks extended their losing streak for the seventh straight session on Monday as investors, worried and anxious, continued selling their holdings to stave off further losses.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, plunged 88 points or 1.70 per cent to settle at 5,091. It wiped out a total of 289 points in the past seven consecutive sessions.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 34.75 points to finish at 1,818 and the DSE Shariah Index also fell 24.38 points to close at 1,166.
A group of retail investors under the banner of 'Bangladesh Pujibazar Biniogkari Oikya Parishad' staged a demonstration in front of the DSE building on Monday protesting the continuous slump.
They demanded immediate resignation of the chairman of the securities regulator for his failure to stabilize the market and stop the price fall.
According to the brokers, the government's move to liquidate People's Leasing, Grameenphone issue and the gas price hike have severely dented the investors' confidence.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 3.06 billion, which was 14 per cent lower than the previous day's turnover of Tk 3.54 billion.
The International Leasing Securities said the shaky investors opted to liquidate their holdings to avoid further losses, pushing the key index below 5,100 points, the lowest level since January 01, 2017.
Stocks from almost all the sectors, especially from telecoms, financial institution, banking, pharmaceuticals and engineering sector contributed to the fall in the indices, said the stockbroker.
Among the major sectors, telecoms witnessed the highest loss of 5.89 per cent, followed by financial institutions with 3.0 per cent, textile 2.4 per cent, engineering 2.4 per cent, pharmaceutical 1.2 per cent and banking 0.7 per cent.
The EBL Securities said the news of liquidation of PLFS and the gas price hike dented the investor confidence in the last few days and the downtrend continued.
The stockbroker also noted that the earnings declaration by GP has failed to meet the investors' expectations amidst the ongoing regulatory issues, which led to 5.89 per cent fall in GP share price, contributing to greater fall in the index.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 352 issues traded, 303 closed lower, 37 advanced and 12 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Grameenphone (GP) topped the turnover chart, with 374,511 shares worth Tk 123 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Monno Ceramic, Fortune Shoes, Square Pharmaceuticals and United Power.
A total of 97,969 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume standing at 109.46 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also fell to Tk 3,787 billion on Monday, from Tk 3,858 billion in the previous session.
The SEML FBLSL Growth Fund was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.32 per cent while BIFC was the worst loser, shedding 10 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - plunging 261 points to settle at 15,619 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - losing 157 points to finish at 9,487.
Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 220 issues closed lower, 40 ended higher and 18 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 6.22 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 144 million in turnover.
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