Staff Correspondent
Frustrated at the continuous fall in share prices, a group of retail investors on Monday staged a demonstration in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange building.
Dhaka stocks plunged for the straight fourth trading day on Monday due to selling pressure amid a volatile trend in the market in recent weeks, market operators said.
The general index of DSE lost 80.87 points, or 3.02 per cent, to close at 2596.32, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 46.71 points, or 2.16 per cent, to finish at 2118. The DSE general index lost 248.45 points since January 4.
The group of retail investors gathered in front of the DSE building at about 10:45am and agitated on the road, blocking traffic for about half an hour, until the police came to foil their protest, witnesses said.
The demonstrators demanded that the authorities should take steps to arrest any further slide in share prices in the market, the witnesses said.
Most of the securities dropped on Monday. Out of 246 issues traded on the DSE floor, 210 declined, 33 advanced and three remained unchanged.
Market analysts said the market had been dull in recent weeks as institutional investors preferred a ‘wait-and-see’ policy while retail investors, dejected by the recent prevalence of dullness at the market, scurried to sell off their holdings.
‘It seems that institutional investors, the prime movers of the market, are waiting for what policy directions come from the new government,’ said Yawer Sayeed, managing director and chief executive officer of Aims of Bangladesh, an asset management company.
The price movement fluctuated most of the days in recent weeks, reflecting the investors’ shakiness, he added.
A DSE official said the price adjustment of Padma Oil Co Ltd, after its corporate benefits, also contributed to the Monday’s sharp fall.
Due to the adjustment, share price of Padma Oil dropped to Tk 750.60, down by 47 per cent from the previous day’s closing.
Before the last two-week’s bear run, the market had been in a bull run for a couple of weeks thanks to an increased participation of investors after a two-and-a-half-month lull.
Turnover at the DSE dropped to Tk 321.40 crore on Monday from the Sunday’s Tk 338.02 crore.
Shinepukur Ceramics topped the turnover leaders with a total transaction of Tk 35.83 crore.
Beximco, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Summit Power, Titas Gas, BSRM Steels, Grameen Two Mutual Fund, Uttara Bank, Aims 1st Mutual Fund, and Summit Alliance Port were the rest of the top 10 turnover leaders on the day.
Chittagong stocks also fell sharply on Monday.
The selective categories index of Chittagong Stock Exchange lost 119.02 points, or 2.23 per cent, to close at 5222.54, while its blue chips index, CSE30, shed 129.53 points, or 1.87 per cent, to finish at 6809.28.
Of the total 133 issues traded on the CSE floor, 120 dropped and 13 posted gains.
Turnover at the CSE decreased slightly to Tk 46.29 crore from the Sunday’s Tk 46.95 crore.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
