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Stocks plummeted further on Monday, with the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSEX), dipping to three months low as jittery investors opted to liquidate their holdings to avoid further erosion of their portfolios.
The market remained bearish for more than a year since the stock market regulator imposed floor prices coupled with growing macroeconomic concerns and escalating political tensions, has compounded the market’s challenges, market operators said.
The market faced selling pressure from the very beginning of the trading session, primarily due to price fall of particular trendy stocks amid ongoing hartal enforced by BNP.
DSEX, the benchmark of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), slid 14.42 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 6225.56, the lowest in more than three months since August 16. The DSEX shed 32 points in the past three trading days.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, dropped 4.82 points to finish at 2,105 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) fell 2.72 points to close at 1,351.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 4.43 billion on the country’s premier bourse, which was 2.31 per cent higher than the previous day’s tally of Tk 4.33 billion.
The top negative index contributors were LafargeHolcim, Sea Pearl Beach Resorts, Emerald Oil Industries and Unique Hotel & Resorts.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 294 issues traded, 124 closed lower, 19 higher and 151 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Small-cap stocks dominated the turnover list as C&A Textile became the most-traded stocks, with shares worth Tk 508 million changing hands, followed by Fu-Wang Ceramic, Yeakin Polymer, Emerald Oil Industries and Central Pharmaceuticals.
Oimex Electrode was the day’s top gainer, soaring 8.96 per cent while Emerald Oil Industries was the worst loser, losing 9.22 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with its All Share Price Index (CASPI) shedding 25 points to settle at 18,479 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 15 points to close at 11,052.
The port city’s bourse traded 3.36 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover volume of nearly Tk 63 million.