DSEX sinks below 5,600-mark on panic sale

Stocks witnessed a free-fall on Sunday, with the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) sinking below 5,600-mark as investors went for panic sell-offs to avoid further losses.

The market opened on a negative note which continued until the end of the session with no sign of reversal amid persistently lackluster trade.

DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 142.88 points or 2.53 per cent to settle at 5,504, after adding 83 points in the past two consecutive sessions.

Two other indices also saw massive corrections. The DSE 30 Index comprising blue chips plunged 82.62 points to finish at 2,091 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) slumped 25.87 points to close at 1,235.

Market analysts said investors went for panic sale to avoid making losses in fear of further fall of the indices.

Panicked investors, particularly small ones, released their holdings after noticing that some heavyweight issues kept falling in the past few trading days, said a leading broker.

He noted that lower than expected earnings declarations, pressure on margin loans adjustment to regulatory allowable limit coupled with price fall of large-cap stocks continued to put a negative impact on the market.

Apart from this, some brokerage houses are continuing to pressurize their clients for adjusting the margin loan to regulatory allowable limits, said an analyst.

The top negative index contributors were Robi, British American Tobacco, Beximco, Beximco Pharma, Grameenphone, Square Pharma and LafargeHolcim, according to data from amarstock.com, a stock market data analyst.

All the sectors faced selling pressures, leading to the share price erosions of more than 63 per cent stocks. Out of 353 issues traded, 224 closed negative, 43 positive and 86 remained unchanged.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, remained below Tk 8.0 billion-mark and stood at Tk 7.71 billion, which was 8.13 per cent higher than the previous day’s Tk 7.13 billion.

Beximco, which lost 9.06 per cent, continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares of Tk 1.25 billion changing hands, followed by BATBC, LankaBangla Finance, Robi and Beximco Pharma.

Mercantile Insurance was the day’s best performer, gaining 4.22 per cent while CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund was the day’s worst loser, shedding 9.61 per cent.

A total number of 146,760 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 187.08 million shares and mutual fund units.

Market-cap of the DSE fell to Tk 4,690 billion on Sunday, from Tk 4,793 billion in the previous day.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also fell sharply with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 414 points to settle at 15,916 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 249 points to close at 9,604.

Of the issues traded, 151 declined, 30 advanced and 43 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city’s bourse traded 12.16 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 440 million.

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