Stocks slump despite regulatory efforts

Stocks opened lower on Wednesday as shaky investors continued to dump their holdings to escape further losses, despite regulatory efforts to stabilise the market.

Facing the continuous erosion of stock prices, the market watchdog held a meeting with top brokers on Tuesday to find out the reasons behind the persistent market plunge.

The stock market regulator on Tuesday relaxed the ICB investment limit in a single “A” category stock to enhance its capacity to invest more in good stocks.

The securities regulator also assured stockbrokers of considering their proposal with ‘importance’ regarding extension of the timeframe for provisioning against negative equity and unrealized losses.

But the effort virtually failed to bring any positive result as the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went down by more than 4 points or 0.80 per cent to 5022 after two hours of trading at 12:00 noon.

Market experts said the investors had been suffering from a confidence crisis for a long amid depressed market outlook.

The DS30 index, a group of 30 prominent companies, shed 4 points to 1,864 while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, lost 3 points to 1,153 till then.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 1.16 billion till then.

Of the issues traded till then, 124 advanced, 164 declined, and 98 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor till then.

Midland Bank was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 62 million changing hands till then.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange also saw a downward trend till then with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 25 points to 14,040 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX lost 18 points to 8,565 till then.

Meanwhile, a group of aggrieved investors announced a stage demonstration in front of the DSE building today at 22:20pm in protest against inaction of the authorities concerned on market slump.

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