Dhaka stocks inched up on Monday, the first trading session after the Eid-Ul-Fitr, but the turnover hit a two and a half months’ low due to poor investors’ participation.
The turnover of the Dhaka Stock Exchange plummeted 24.58 per cent to Tk 162.29 crore from the previous trading session’s Tk 215.20 crore.Monday’s turnover was the lowest since Tk 165.58 crore recorded on May 26 this year.
Due to intense liquidity crisis the turnover of the prime bourse hit record five-year low of Tk 101.57 crore on January 21.
The lowest turnover in the near past was Tk 81.54 crore, recorded on January 8, 2008.
The DSE turnover reached its record high on December 5, 2010 to Tk 3,249.57 crore. But just two months later the DGEN came down from 8,723.18 points on December 1, 2010 to 7,572.61 points on January 30, 2011.
The aftershock of the crash has been continuing since then as the DGEN had lost 3,032 points in 2011 and 1,038 points in 2012.
The benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 3,916.83 points, advancing 0.63 per cent or 24.85 points on the day.
The blue chip index of the bourse, DS30, advanced by 0.93 per cent, or 13.70 points, to close at 1,481.75 points.
Market operators said that the presence of investors at the brokerage houses and the merchant banks were thin as many investors were yet to return to the city after celebrating Eid.
A section of the investors was observing the political situation ahead of the 48-hour general strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami before making the next move, which was another reason behind the downtrend, they said.
The government’s delay to release the fund worth Tk 900 crore for the affected small scale investors was another reason behind the investors’ lack in confidence, they added.
Among the 272 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 164 advanced, 86 declined and 22 remained unchanged.
‘Surrounding phenomenon regarding political warm-up solely inked today’s trading session. Investors’ positioning in fundamentally lucrative scrips after mid-session was only sufficient to put the bourse in the flat region,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
‘Being the maiden session after Eid-Ul-Fitr, investors’ participation was very sluggish, which was enough to register a three months lowest turnover of Tk162.29 crore,’ it also said.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company led the turnover chart on Monday as its shares worth Tk 17.35 crore changed hands.
-With New Age input
