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Stocks tumbled in early trading on Thursday, with the key index plunged below the ‘psychological’ threshold of the 5,000 mark after six months, as jittery investors continued to dump their holdings to escape further losses, despite regulatory efforts to stablise the market.
The key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went down by more than 39 points or 0.78 per cent to 4,983 after two hours and 45 minutes of trading at 12:45 pm.
Market experts said the investors had been suffering from a confidence crisis for a long time amid a depressed market outlook.
A group of stock investors took to the streets once again on Wednesday in protest against the continuous market fall and the inaction of the securities regulator.
The protesters chanted slogans and demanded the immediate resignation of Khondoker Rashed Maqsood, chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), and Prof. Abu Ahmed, chairman of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), for their “failure” to bring back stability in the market.
The protesters also sought the chief adviser’s intervention and appointed qualified ones, removing Mr Maksood and Prof. Ahmed, to bring back confidence to the market.
The DS30 index, a group of 30 prominent companies, shed 15 points to 1,852, while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, lost 12 points to 1,108 till then.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 2.09 billion till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 55 advanced, 27 declined, and 63 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beach Hatchery was the most traded stock, with shares worth Tk 382 million changing hands till then.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also saw a downward trend, with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) losing 33 points to 13,978, while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX lost 14 points to 8,536 till then.
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