DSEX falls back to 3-year-old levels after bar on share price decline eases

The main index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange has gone back to three-year-old levels on the first day after the minimum threshold for share price declines was lowered to prevent the index from falling.

On the last business day of the week on Thursday, the DSEX dropped 60 points or 1 per cent to 5,518. The index was at 5,517 points earlier on May 2, 2021.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission or BSEC intervened on Wednesday after the index lost 815 points in less than two and a half months.

It lowered the limit on single-day share price decline from 10 per cent to 3 per cent. The share price of the three companies in the floor price are not allowed to decrease.

On Thursday, the trading started with 5,578 points in the Dhaka Stock Exchange. But at one point the index fell by 98 points.

The DSEX regained some ground, but at the end of the day, the market ended with 60 points less than the previous day.

DSE’s trading also fell along with the index. Shares of Tk 5.11 were exchanged, compared to Tk 6.02 billion on Wednesday.

On the last day of the week, the share price of 300 companies fell, 69 rose, and 27 remained unchanged.

“We have information that a class of investors are doing unusual trading. To deter them, the commission has fixed the share price reduction rate,” BSEC Executive Director and spokesperson Rezaul Karim told bdnews24.com.

“The market is under heavy selling pressure. As a result, liquidity has moved from the capital market to the money market (banks). I believe the stock market will turn around if institutional investors buy shares now. Because many shares are still undervalued in the market. There may be investment. Institutional investors can invest in it,” he said.

The capital market has been going through ups and downs for two and a half months. It has gone through occasional upswings but the index mostly fell.

As Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr came in between, investors hoped that the stock market would be able to turn around after the festival. But after the Eid holidays, the rate of decline has increased.

President of DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh Saiful Islam told bdnews24.com, “The market falling for so long means that the steps being taken are not appropriate. Investors do not take well to market intervention. We hope this BSEC decision will be temporary.”