Stocks plunge as panic-driven sell-offs continues

Stocks witnessed yet another big jolt on Sunday as panic-driven investors continued their sell-offs on major sectors amid fears of a fresh wave of virus.

The market opened on a sharp decline which continued until the end of the session as panic gripped investors amid soaring trend of Covid-19 infections and death in recent days in the country.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down further by 84.91 points or 1.56 per cent to settle below 5,349.

Market analysts said investors dumped their holdings riding on the news that daily Covid-19 infections and death are rising alarmingly in recent days in the country.

Owing to a rising number of infections, investors apprehend that the country could be in for a second round of lockdown, which means the stock market would also be kept shut again, said a top broker preferring anonymity.

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has also proposed for full lockdown in the wake of the rising number of Covid-19 patients to curb the spread.

However, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) assured that there is no such possibility. If the banks were kept open, so would the market, they said.

Two other indices also ended lower with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, slumped 39.31 points to finish at 2,034 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) plunged 21.19 points to close at 1,226.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, fell to Tk 6.15 billion, which was 10 per cent lower over the previous day’s turnover of Tk 6.84 billion.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 348 issues traded, 239 declined, 31 advanced and 78 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- was the most-traded stock with shares worth about Tk 842 million changing hands, followed by Robi, Beximco Pharma, LankaBangla Finance and LafargeHolcim.

Republic Insurance was the day’s top gainer, posting a gain of 9.68 per cent while Anlimayarn Dyeing was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent.

A total number of 136,516 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 156.39 million shares and mutual fund units.

The market-cap of DSE also plunged to Tk 4,646 billion on Sunday, down from Tk 4,720 billion in the previous session.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended sharply lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 263 points to settle at 15,486 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 157 points to close at 9,342.

Of the issues traded, 166 declined, 17 advanced and 48 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city’s bourse traded 8.01 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 253 million.

[email protected]