Tk 20,662cr wiped out in a month

A selling spree over fears of political uncertainty centring the upcoming parliamentary elections and declining foreign funds in Dhaka led to stocks wiping out Tk 20,662 crore of investors money in the last one month.

During the period, Dhaka Stock Exchange witnessed a fall of 384.98 points and lost 5.18 percent in market value as it continued falling, albeit for three days.

Most of the institutional investors also remained inactive in the period because of their struggle to comply with the exposure limit.

Bangladesh Bank is yet to respond to the call of institutional investors to count the market exposure of the subsidiaries separately from their parent banks and financial institutions, said Khairul Bashar Abu Taher Mohammed, secretary general of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association.

Addition of the subsidiaries' exposure with that of the parents resulted in an overexposure, because of which many institutional investors had to remain inactive in the market, said Mohammed, who is also the CEO of MTB Capital.

Even the official entry of Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as a strategic partner of the DSE could not save the local stock exchange from the fall, experts said.

People are losing interest to keep investing in the capital market, as banks are now offering lucrative returns against the deposits, said Mahbub H Mazumdar, CEO of AFC Capital, a brokerage house.

The initiatives taken by the Bangladesh Bank to solve the liquidity crunch had also failed to leave any positive impact on the capital market, he said.

Prices of many stocks hit a 52-week low, but still investors are not using new funds in the market, he said.

The Dhaka stock's benchmark general index—DSEX—fell 3.25 points or 0.06 percent to 5,313.70.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, decreased 5.5 percent to Tk 402.05 crore with 8.37 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands on the DSE.

Of the traded issues, 100 advanced, 184 declined and 52 remained unchanged.

Alif Industries dominated the turnover chart with 25.33 lakh shares worth Tk 27.67 crore changing hands. It was followed by Berger Paints, Nahee Aluminum, Intraco Refueling Station and Square Pharmaceuticals.

Bangladesh Autocars was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.98 percent, followed by Anwar Galvanizing, Eastern Lubricants and GQ Ball Pen.

SEML Lecture Equity Management Fund was the worst loser, shedding by 7.14 percent, followed by Queen South Textile, Legacy Footwear and Alif Industries.

Among the major sectors, banking declined 1.12 percent followed by fuel and power with 0.84 percent and textile 0.67 percent.

On the other hand, the pharmaceuticals sector soared 1.30 percent and telecom 1.23 percent.

Chittagong stocks also fell yesterday with the bourse's benchmark index, CSCX, declining 31.31 points or 0.32 percent to finish the day at 9,901.51.

Losers beat gainers as 57 advanced, 134 declined and 30 finished unchanged on the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

The port city bourse traded 43.99 lakh shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 16.21 crore.