Stocks sink below 4,700 points

Continued slide in stocks brought the index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) below the 4,700-point mark yesterday.

Stakeholders think massive sell-offs by institutional investors have caused the fall.

Yesterday, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the DSE, plummeted by 30.43 points, or 0.64 percent, to 4,691.93.

Market analysts said most of the stock investors were pessimistic about the market so they refrained from investing money. 

Moreover, some institutional investors were selling stocks that fuelled the market slide.

UCB Capital Management said in its daily analysis that the current market sentiment remains bearish as investors became very cautious while choosing scrips.

A top merchant banker said stock investors’ confidence remained low due to the continuous fall of the index.

Moreover, some companies disclosed their financial reports of the first quarter of the current fiscal year, where their earnings declined.

So, stock investors were disappointed, he added.

For instance, the ICB incurred a loss in the quarter whereas it booked profit in the same quarter of the previous year.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, rose by 6.7 percent to Tk 406.34 crore yesterday.

Of the traded issues, 132 advanced, 161 declined and 47 remained unchanged.

Grameenphone dominated the turnover chart with transaction of Tk 21.44 crore worth of shares, followed by Square Pharmaceuticals, National Tubes, Asian Insurance, and Wata Chemicals.

Bangladesh Autocars was the day’s best performer with a 9.97 percent gain, while Wata Chemicals was the worst loser, shedding by 18.33 percent.

Chattogram stocks were also down with the bourse’s benchmark index, the CSCX, decreasing 46.17 points, or 0.52 percent, to finish the day at 8,670.08.

Losers beat gainers as 111 declined and 91 advanced while 39 finished unchanged on the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

The port city bourse traded shares and mutual fund worth Tk 15.61 crore.