Stocks continue to bleed

Bangladesh's stock market continued to bleed yesterday as the benchmark index fell to a three-month low while investors wait in the sidelines in fear of further decline.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), nosedived by 56 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 6,799, its lowest since August 19, when the index was at 6,760 points.

With yesterday's fall, the index dropped 107 points over the past three trading days.

The non-bank financial institutions sector experienced the highest loss of 2.51 per cent followed by food and allied, fuel and power, engineering, bank, telecommunication, and pharmaceutical.

"Investors are on the sidelines because they are afraid the market may fall further," a stock broker said.

"Although many stocks' value shrank by 5 to 7 per cent compared to two months earlier, they are refusing to purchase shares as the market dropped almost continuously so people are lacking confidence," he added.

The country's stock market fell yesterday following a similarly sharp decline in the previous session as shaky investors continued their selling binge in sector-specific stocks, said International Leasing Securities in its daily market review.

The market turnover also remained low as investors continued to hold off on purchases.

"The market started with a positive note but couldn't sustain it due to the absence of a clear market direction and out of panic," it said. The top ten traded stocks captured around 49.5 per cent with Beximco alone accounting for 8.6 per cent of the total trade, it added.

At the DSE, 55 stocks advanced, 296 declined and 26 remained unchanged.

Sena Kalyan Insurance topped the gainers list, rising 10 per cent, followed by Golden Son, Aamra Networks, Safko Spinning, and Orion Pharmaceuticals.

Stocks of Beximco Limited traded the most, worth Tk 92 crore, followed by Genex Infosys, NRB Commercial Bank, Orion Pharmaceuticals, and IFIC Bank.

Alif Industries shed the most, dropping 8.37 per cent, followed by Pharma Aids, Shepherd Industries, Standard Ceramics, and Paper Processing and Packaging.

The Chattogram bourse also fell yesterday as the CASPI, the main index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), dropped 210 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 19,868.

Among 283 traded stocks, 38 rose, 219 fell and 26 remained unchanged.