Dhaka stocks declined on Thursday after three sessions on the up as the turnover fell significantly amid thin participation of the investors.
The turnover of the Dhaka Stock Exchange declined to Tk 148.10 crore, a 29.41 per cent decrease from the earlier trading session’s Tk 209.80 crore.The bourse’s turnover on Wednesday had hit the 200 crore mark for the first time since March 6.
The benchmark general index of DSE, DSEX, lost 0.58 per cent, or 21.27 points, to finish at 3,590.02 points on the day.
The DSEX had gained 118.03 points in the last three sessions, a sharp contrast to the previous three weeks when it had lost 369.43 points.
Market operators said the investors’ participation on the trading floor declined on the day following political unrest across the country.
A section of investors went for sell-offs fearing the price might fall. The bourse finishing in the red in the last trading session of the week has become a trend for quite some time, they said.
The inability of the institutional investors to participate in the trading floor due to the recent downtrend was a reason for the low turnover, they added.
Some merchant banks had failed to comply with the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission’s directive to increase the paid-up capital to Tk 25 crore as they are suffering from intense liquidity crisis, said a senior official of a merchant bank.
DGEN, the old benchmark general index of the bourse, lost 0.49 per cent, or 18.34 points, to finish at 3,720.35 points.
The DGEN gained 88.97 points in the last three trading sessions while it had lost 281 points in the previous two weeks.
The blue-chip index of the bourse, DS30, declined to 1,322.05 point on Thursday as it lost 0.63 per cent or 8.48 points.
Among the 270 issued traded on the day, 116 advanced, 127 declined and 27 issues remained unchanged.
Amid shaky confidence and low participation, session went downbeat amid jagged volatility. After flattening of rally in previous session, investors went uncertain as to investment
outlook in the short term, IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
It also said that in the meantime, regular shifts in political dynamics had been jolting market sentiment a lot, causing investors to rethink before fresh investments. As a combined impact, investors remained rather watchful than stepping in further.
Premier Cement Mills topped the turnover chart on the day as its shares worth Tk 8.31 crore changed hands.
While newly-listed Premier Cement, Orion Pharma, Summit Purbanchol Power Company and Global Heavy Chemicals contributed to 17 per cent of the day’s turnover.
Sonali Aansh led the gainers’ list as its shares went up by 10 per cent while Samorita Hospital lost the most, 6.46 per cent.
-With New Age input
