Key stock index drops to 35-month low
The prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell for a seventh consecutive trading day yesterday to close at a 35-month low amidst sparse participation of investors.
The DSEX lost 69.81 points, or 1.16 percent, from that on the day before to close at 5,898 points.
The last time it was this low was on May 25 of 2021 when it had reached 5,880 points.
Meanwhile, the DSES, which represents Shariah-compliant firms, dropped 13.55 points, or 1.04 percent, to 1,286.
Similarly, the DS30, which comprises blue-chip stocks, shed 8.96 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,042.
The prime index has been falling for the last couple of days due to the sale of shares by foreign investors, which was in turn causing mostly large companies to drop, said a top official of a leading brokerage firm, preferring anonymity.
For instance, British American Tobacco Bangladesh dragged down the DSEX by 5 points as it dropped to Tk 422 from Tk 430 while Renata slashed 3.6 points off the index falling to Tk 863 from Tk 877.
The foreigners are expecting the local currency to be devalued even further, for which they are in the mood to sell shares, he said.
On the other hand, the yield rate of treasury bonds is now closed to 12 percent and it may rise even further. So, institutional investors are also not investing in the stock market as treasury bonds are much more lucrative now, the broker added.
Turnover, one of the major indicators of the stock market indicating the volume of shares traded during the session, slumped 5.43 percent to Tk 486 crore.
Total turnover of block trade, which are large, privately negotiated securities transactions, stood at Tk 5.72 crore, representing 1.2 percent of the day's total turnover.
Of the issues traded on the DSE, 134 made gains, 330 lost and 32 did not see any price fluctuation.
According to the daily market update by UCB Stock Brokerage, almost all the sectors closed in the negative territory. Among them, paper and printing, ceramics and jute suffered the biggest falls.
The engineering sector dominated the turnover chart, accounting for 18.9 percent of the total turnover.
Market movement was driven by negative changes in the market capitalisation of companies in the sectors of travel and leisure, paper and printing, and financial institutions, according to the daily market update of Shanta Securities.
Asiatic Laboratories topped the gainers' list with a rise of 9.79 percent, followed by People's Leasing and Financial Services with 8.69 percent, Baraka Power with 8.69 percent and Baraka Patenga Power with 8.10 percent.
ADN Telecom and Western Marine Shipyard followed suit with 4.54 percent and 4.47 percent respectively.
Bangas, Karnaphuli Insurance Company, and Doreen Power Generations and Systems were also on the top gainers' chart.
Golden Son shed the most, 9.05 percent, followed by Khulna Printing & Packaging and Aftab Automobiles with a decrease of more than 8 percent.
HR Textile Mills, Prime Textile Spinning Mills, SS Steel, Orion Infusion, Aramit Cement and CAPM BDBL Mutual Fund 01 were also on the chart of those suffering the biggest losses, each losing more than 7 percent.
Chittagong Stock Exchange saw a similar trend as the Caspi, the main index of the port city bourse, plunged 169 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 16,929 points.