Stocks fall day after ‘operational error’

Stock market indices continued to fall for a third consecutive trading day yesterday due to increased sales by investors panicking for an "operational error" at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) the day before.
The DSEX, the key index of the premier bourse of the country, went down by nearly 17 points, or 0.27 percent, from that on Sunday to close at 6,058.
The DSES, an index that represents Shariah-based firms, edged down 2.30 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,322 while the DS30, which comprises blue chip stocks, dropped around 8 points, or 0.38 percent, to settle at 2,075.
All indices of the DSE had showed unusual figures for around nine hours till 7:00pm on Sunday due to an "operational error", which adversely impacted investor confidence, causing turnover to plummet amid huge sales pressure.
The turnover, an indicator of the volume of shares traded, stood at Tk 754 crore yesterday, an increase of 57.68 percent compared to the previous trading session.
Fu-Wang Ceramic Industry topped the turnover list, accounting for 8.36 percent of it, followed by Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-Cream at 9.94 percent, Orion Infusion at 7.23 percent, and Golden Son at 9.52 percent.
The total block market turnover stood at Tk 68.29 crore, representing 9.1 percent of the day's total turnover.
The block market is a platform where a large number of stocks are traded in a single transaction at a negotiated price without affecting the index.
According to the daily market review by Shanta Securities, market movement was driven by negative changes in the market capitalisation of paper and printing, information technology and food and allied scrips.
However, there were positive changes in the market capitalisation of travel and leisure, tannery industries, and financial institutions scrips.
Of the issues traded, 174 scrips gained market capitalisation, 163 lost, and 59 did not see any price fluctuation.
Bangladesh Building Systems took pole position on the top gainers' chart with a rise of 9.94 percent, followed by Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-Cream, Associated Oxygen and SS Steel with 9.93 percent, 9.92 percent and 9.84 percent respectively.
NCC Bank Mutual Fund-1 shed the most in value, losing 8.69 percent, followed by Fu-Wang Ceramic Industry, HR Textile Mills and Orion Infusion which lost 8.36 percent, 7.92 percent and 7.49 percent respectively.
Most of the large capitalisation sectors posted negative performances.
According to the market update by BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage, the food and allied sector experienced the highest loss of 1.35 percent followed by telecommunication at 1.06 percent, pharmaceuticals at 0.41 percent, and fuel and power at 0.24 percent.
The banking sector dropped 0.04 percent, engineering 0.24 percent, and non-bank financial institution 0.52 percent.
The Caspi, the broad index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange, dropped by 3.21 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 1,229.