Dhaka stocks plunged on Sunday, the first trading session of the week, with a sharp fall in turnover as investors were shaky following the media reports
that manipulators again became active on the market.
DSEX, the benchmark general index of the bourse, declined to 4,090.02 points, shedding 3.16 per cent or 133.59 points.
The old key index of the bourse, DGEN, lost 3.57 per cent, or 163.30 points, to close at 4,405.16 points.
The DSEX and the DGEN lost 205.81 points and 370.04 points respectively in the last three sessions after gaining 89.23 and 171.75 points in the previous two.
Market operators said investors became panicky following the media reports in the last few days that manipulators became active again on the stock market due to the recent upward trend in the share prices.
They also said that a large number of investors sold shares on the day while a section of investors remained inactive on the trading floor as they decided to observe the market trend.
Merchant bankers, however, said that investors were dejected following the media report published on Thursday saying that the government asked the listed state-owned entities to offload more shares in the capital market.
Investors feared that if the listed SoEs offload more shares, the prices of the shares of the entities will go down, they said.
DS30, the blue-chip index of the DSE, declined by 4.96 per cent, or 79.33 points, to finish at 1,519.35 points on Sunday.
The turnover of the bourse also declined sharply to Tk 606.91
crore from Tk 852.01 crore in the previous trading session.
The market on Thursday declined as the Grameenphone’s shares lost 16.94 per cent on the day putting a significant impact on the overall market.
The share prices of GP declined on the day as the profit of GP declined to Tk 310.38 crore in January-June this year, in a sharp contrast to the Tk 966.73 crore profit the telecom operator had made in the same period last year.
Of the 286 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 41 advanced, 225 declined, and 22 remained unchanged.
‘Continuation of heavy shed-offs throughout the session levelled down DGEN to the psychological level of 4,400 points. Dwindle in large cap scrips further stretched the declining tone in today’s [Sunday] session. Additionally, frequent selling spree alongside the profit taking accelerated today’s plunge badly,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
Meghna Petroleum led the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk 63.42 crore changing hands on the day.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Padma Oil, Jamuna Oil, Grameenphone, Titas Gas, Active Finance and Olympic Industries were also on the list.
JMI Syringes and Medical Devices gained the most on the day as it
share price increased by 9.93 per cent, while share price of Progressive Life Insurance Company lost the most by shedding 19.54 per cent.
-With New Age input
