Risk-averse investors depress stocks

Stocks slid for the second day as investors continue to be wary of undertaking any long-term, substantial investment.
DGEN, the benchmark General Index of Dhaka Stock Exchange finished the day at 4,159.66 points, after dropping 75.60 points, or 1.78 percent.
“Investors lack confidence in the market right now,” said Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed, former president of Chittagong Stock Exchange. He called upon both institutional and small investors to make long-term investments in the market.
IDLC Investments too feels there is a dearth in confidence in the market at present, blaming it on the financial institutions' unimpressive half-yearly earnings.
“Both retail and institutional investors have taken on a risk-aversion approach and would rather have liquidity,” it added.
However, as per Green Delta LR Holdings' report, mutual funds performed reasonably well, with dividend declarations made by eight funds of ICB.
Turnover lost 5.99 percent from the previous day, finishing the day at Tk 224 crore.
Of the 266 issues that traded on the DSE floor, 200 declined, 48 advanced and 16 remained unchanged.
A total of 0.69 lakh trades were executed on the Dhaka bourse, for a transaction of 5.24 crore shares and mutual fund units.
All the prominent sectors experienced a downfall, led by engineering, which fell by 2.68 percent, followed by engineering, 2.56 percent; textiles, 2.51 percent; power, 2.03 percent; and life insurance, 1.78 percent.
Grameenphone was the most traded stock of the day, owing to its transactions of 9.08 lakh shares worth Tk18.56 crore.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company and Jamuna Oil were the next most popular stocks.
Second ICB Mutual Fund's 30 percent rise propelled it to the top of the gainers' chart, while Shyampur Sugar Mills' drop of 9.09 percent was the biggest experienced in the day.