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Stocks witnessed another major setback on Wednesday, with daily trade turnover on the Dhaka bourse plunged to a fresh five-month low as investors were mostly reluctant to put fresh funds in stocks.
The day’s turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, fell to Tk 3.06 billion on the premier bourse, down by 30 per cent from the previous day’s transactions of Tk 4.41 billion.
This marked another lowest single-day turnover since January 3 this year, when the transactions totalled Tk 2.92 billion.
Market experts attributed the free-fall to numerous factors, like the increased policy rate and treasury security yields as well as possible capital gains tax and rumour of corporate tax rate hike for listed companies.
The market opened lower and the downward trend continued until end of the session with no sign of reversal, finally the Dhaka Stock Exchanges’ (DSE) benchmark index fell by more than 50 points or 0.95 per cent to 5,228, a fresh 37-month-low since April 2021.
The blue-chip index DS30, a group of 30 prominent companies, lost more than 17 points to 1,870 while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, shed 13 points to 1,139.
“Nothing is in favour of the capital market right now,” said a leading broker, adding that the country’s economy is now enduring some stresses, so its impact is reflected on the stock market as well.
However, he said lower turnover indicates that the investors are not interested in selling shares at this lower price level, he added.
Alif Industries became the most-traded stocks with shares worth Tk 140 million changing hands, followed by Beach Hatchery, Orion Pharma and Orion Infusions.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended sharply lower, with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) shedding 155 points to 15,084 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 95 points to 9,074.