Stocks witnessed a massive fall on Wednesday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as investors dumped their holdings after seeing no solutions on banks' investment in stocks from the finance ministry meeting.
The DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), slid 96.85 points or 1.37 per cent to close at 6,952, after gaining 345 points in the past five consecutive sessions.
Market analysts said the market ended sharply lower as solutions regarding banks' investment in the capital market remained unsettled after the meeting held at the finance ministry on Tuesday, which frustrated the investors.
Besides, the shaky investors were engaged in booking quick profits on large-cap stocks as the market rose in the last five consecutive days, they said.
The finance ministry held a coordination meeting with the Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Board of Revenue to resolve some disputes relating to capital market.
The meeting did not take any decision, but gave assurance to come up with a visible and positive decision by the end of this month or beginning of January.
"The delayed process of decision making might have made the investors shaky in putting fresh bets in the stocks," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
He noted that the investors went on a heavy sell-offs as they lost their hopes for resolving disputes between the central bank and the stock market regulator immediately.
Heavy sell pressure has been observed in the large- cap sectors such as financial institutions, miscellaneous, textile and banking sector, according to International Leasing Securities.
Profit-taking is normal, but some unexpected issues between the two regulators made headlines, taking a toll on the confidence of investors, he said.
Ten large-cap stocks such as Beximco, Walton, ICB, British American Tobacco, LafargeHolcim, Beximco Pharma, United Power, Square Pharma, BRAC Bank and Grameenphone, jointly accounted for 47 points fall of DSEX, according to amarstock.com, a market data analyst.
Despite the market plunged, the day's gainers' chart was dominated by the low-cap companies whose sponsor-directors faced one month ultimatum from the BSEC to comply with minimum 30 per cent shares jointly.
Small-cap stocks, which received the regulatory ultimatum, topped the gainers' list with Fine Foods was the day's highest gainer, soaring 9.86 per cent followed by Fu-Wang Food 9.63 per cent, Shuwrid Industries 9.44 per cent, FAS Finance 9.33 per cent, Central Pharma 7.85 per cent and Pharma Aids 7.50 per cent.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, plunged 39.25 points to finish at 2,621 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 13 points to close at 1,467.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also fell to Tk 11.52 billion, which was 13 per cent lower than the previous day's tally of Tk 13.31 billion.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 374 issues traded, 257 declined, 97 advanced and 20 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 963 million changing hands, closely followed by IFIC Bank (Tk 440 million), GSP Finance (Tk 367 million), ONE Bank (Tk 309 million) and Sena Kalyan Insurance (Tk 288 million).
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended sharply lower the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -shedding 251 points to settle at 20,359 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-- losing 154 points to close at 12,233.
Of the issues traded, 184 declined, 82 advanced and 23 remained unchanged on the CSE.
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