Political turmoil dampens stocks for fourth day

Stocks extended their losing streak to the fourth day yesterday as the market sentiment was choked by ongoing political turbulence across the country.
The market started the day on a flying note as the key index, DSEX, rose 20 points in the first 45 minutes of trading, but finally closed the day on the falling note.
The market gauge closed the day at 1,468.46 points, after shedding 30.46 points or 0.71 percent.
The consolidation in market continued for the fourth trading session as investors eyed the recent economic slowdown, said LankaBangla Securities in its regular market analysis.
“Market sentiment has been gripped by ongoing political unrest that is narrowing the investment in manufacturing sectors and affecting the export-import of the country,” said the stockbroker.
Another dull session passed over the bourse amid directionless trading behaviour of investors, IDLC Investments, a leading investment banker, said in its market analysis.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, declined 18.70 percent to Tk 483 crore, compared to the previous day.
A total of 1.19 lakh trades were executed with 12.35 crore share and mutual fund units changing hands on the Dhaka bourse.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as of the 296 issues traded, 209 declined, 56 advanced and 31 remained unchanged.
All the sectors ended in red: power lost 0.38 percent, pharma 0.34 percent, non-bank financial institutions 0.19 percent and telecoms 0.10 percent. Banks closed almost flat with 0.04 percent loss.
Generation Next Fashion continued to dominate the top turnover chart with 98.29 lakh shares worth Tk 36 crore changing hands.
The textile sector saw the highest liquidity, accounting for 27.5 percent of total market turnover, with five of its issues featuring in the top ten traded shares.
Sinobangla Industries was the highest gainer of the day, posting a rise of 8.39 percent, while Rahima Food was the worst loser, slumping by 10 percent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended lower, with its selective categories index, CSCX, losing 70.32 points, to close at 8,326.97 points.
Losers beat gainers 162 to 37, with 20 issues remaining unchanged on the port city bourse that traded 1.6 crore shares and mutual fund units with Tk 58 crore in turnover.