Extending losses for the second consecutive session, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) plunged steeply on Sunday, as panic-driven investors continued to dump their holdings to avoid further losses.
DSEX, the prime index of DSE, slipped 96.95 points or 1.88 per cent to settle at 5,033, the lowest in 31 months.
Market operators said the market saw continued sell-offs, driven by low level of investor confidence and liquidity crisis in the money market.
The government's move to liquidate People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited (PLFSL), Grameenphone issue coupled with fund shortage continued to take toll on the investor sentiment, said a leading broker.
He noted that investors sold their shares following PLFSL's liquidation move as they feared some other companies in the financial sector might face the same fate due to their poor business performance.
On Sunday, the market started falling sharply from the very beginning of the session, pushing the index deep into the negative zone.
Two other indices also fell sharply. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 30 points to finish at 1,799 and the DSE Shariah Index slumped 18.64 points to close at 1,157.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 3.68 billion, which was 7.0 per cent lower than the previous day's turnover of Tk 3.95 billion.
According to the International Leasing Securities, the panicked investors liquidated their position from almost all the sectors, especially textile, engineering, telecoms, financial institution, bank, food and power sectors stocks, which contributed to marked fall in indices.
All the sectors faced price correction, with the textile posting the highest loss of 4.10 per cent, followed by engineering (3.5 per cent), cement (3.0 per cent), non-bank financial institutions (2.10 per cent), telecoms (1.60 per cent), food (1.50 per cent) and banking (1.30 per cent).
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 352 issues traded, 273 closed lower, 61 advanced and 18 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Fortune Shoes topped the turnover chart, with 4.96 million shares worth Tk 200 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were United Power, Federal Insurance, JMI Syringes and Beximco.
A total of 114,047 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 148.61 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also came down to Tk 3,773 billion on Sunday from Tk 3,822 billion in the previous session.
Vanguard AML Rupali Bank Balanced Fund was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Aziz Pipes was the worst loser, shedding 9.97 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also saw sharp fall with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -slumping by 309 points to settle at 15,415 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - losing 185 points to finish at 9,373.
Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 231 issues closed lower, 42 ended higher and 11 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 7.92 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 171 million in turnover.
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