Dhaka stocks declined for the third trading session on Monday due to panic selling following a media report that the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association requested the BSEC to bring the investors having above Tk 1 crore in margin loan under the CIB reporting to facilitate recovery of the margin loans. The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 4,768.90 points, shedding 1.43 per cent or 69.20 points.
Market operators said the market was on a downward trend as investors were overreacting to a Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest step regarding Shahjibazar Power Company Ltd’s shares for the last couple of trading sessions.
The media report on the BMBA’s proposal made investors panicky, they said.
A recent BMBA letter sent to the BSEC said, ‘To facilitate the recovery of huge defaulted margin loans, we propose that clients having loan with more than Tk 1 crore should come under the reporting of Credit Information Bureau as we do not have any other functional recourses.’
Operators said investors were anticipating that the market might fall further as it had already declined by around 500 points in the last one and a half months.
DSE managing director Swapan Kumar Bala on Monday at a discussion said, ‘There is a perception among the investors that the market is on decline due to the merchant bankers’ proposal that the capital market regulator should bring investors with above Tk 1 crore margin loan in merchant banks and brokerage houses under the reporting of the CIB of Bangladesh Bank.’
DS30, the blue-chip index of the DSE, closed at 1,753.05 points, slipping by 1.79 per cent or 32.08 points.
The Shariah index of the bourse, DSES, dropped by 2.03 per cent, or 23.04 points, to close at 1,110.58 points on the day.
Of the 302 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 61 advanced, 199 declined and 42 remained unchanged.
‘Panic-driven selling spree has pulled down the market for the third consecutive session today [Monday],’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
‘Apparently, investors focused mostly on selling to minimise further loss in their portfolio as the market continued moving towards bearish zone,’ it said.
‘A total plunge of 565.1 points within the last 30 sessions was well enough to shed off the recent rally,’ it said.
Turnover at the DSE increased slightly to Tk 354.77 crore on Monday compared with that of Tk 348.99 crore in the previous trading session.
Lafarge Surma Cement led the turnover leaders on the day with its shares worth Tk 19.21 crore changing hands.
Square Pharmaceuticals, Grameenphone, Beximco Pharma, Jamuna Oil, BEXIMCO, Barakatullah Electro Dynamics, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, Western Marine Shipyard and Meghna Petroleum were among the other turnover leaders on the day.
ICB AMCL 1ST NRB Mutual Fund gained the most with a 5.88-per cent increase in its share price, while Emerald Oil Industries lost the most, shedding 10.51 per cent.
-With New Age input
