Dhaka stocks declined on Sunday as the turnover recorded a significant fall.
Although most of the companies gained on the day, the fall of shares prices of the companies with large paid-up capitals orchestrated the fall.
The turnover of the bourse declined to Tk 114.34 crore, which was 21.36 per cent less than the earlier trading session’s Tk 145.40 crore.
The benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 3,493.27 points on the day, shedding 0.41 per cent or 14.58 points.
The DSEX had lost 348 points in the last two weeks after gaining 23.54 points in the previous two.
Among the 265 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 174 advanced, 73 declined and 18 remained unchanged.
Market operators said most of the investors did not have the ability to participate on the trading floor as they had incurred significant losses in the last two weeks.
As the prices fell further on the day, the investors opted to adopt a ‘wait and see’ strategy as the market had been suffering since February mainly due to the ongoing political instability, they said.
Along with the retail investors, some big investors are also stuck with shares of new companies as most of their prices have declined heavily after they had debuted with high prices, they added.
A senior official of a merchant bank said that foreign investors’ participation in the stock market had declined recently as they lost their confidence in the capital market due to the ongoing political unrest.
The market is unlikely to return to stability until the situation on the political front improves, he observed.
DGEN, the old benchmark general index of the bourse, declined by 0.17 per cent, or 6.36 points, to finish at 3,650.67 points on Sunday.
The blue-chip index of the bourse, DS30, declined by 0.78 per cent, or 10.25 points, to finish at 1,300.70 points.
‘Pessimism dominated market sentiment, as uncertainty in national politics prevails. Subsequently, DSEX ended flat today [Sunday]. However, turnover plunged down to a 50 sessions’ low of Tk 114.30 crore,’ IDLC investments said in its daily market commentary.
Pubali Bank lost the most on the day as its shares went down by 9.78 per cent. AB Bank First Mutual Fund, Union Capital, Monno Jute Stafflers, BD Lamps, Takaful Islami Insurance, Central Insurance, Midas Financing, Beacon Pharma and Golden Son followed the chart.
Among the major sectors, jute lost the most, 1.26 per cent, while non-bank financial institution gained the most, 0.77 per cent.
Mutual funds dominated the gainers’ list as all the top ten were from this sector.
-With New Age input
