The daily trade turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped to 21 months low Tuesday as investors were reluctant to make fresh investment in stocks amid ongoing bearish trend.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 2.39 billion on the country’s premier bourse, slumping further by 9.12 per cent over previous day’s mark of Tk 2.63 billion.
It was the lowest single-day transaction since March 25, 2018, when the turnover totalled a record Tk 2.24 billion.
Market analysts said investors reluctant to make fresh investment amid lack of confidence while poor macroeconomic indicators, dearth of quality stocks and liquidity crunch exacerbated the ongoing confidence crisis among investors.
Along with falling turnover, DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, also went down by 3.76 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 4,390, lowest in 42 months since June 27, 2016.
Two other indices ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 9.12 points to finish at 1,496 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 3.78 points to close at 985.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 353 issues traded, 179 closed lower, 112 ended higher and 62 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 85,846 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 84.90 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE, however, increased to Tk 3,365 billion on Tuesday, from Tk 3,351 billion in the previous session.
Square Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 95 million changing hands, closely followed by Khulna Power, National Life Insurance, Sinobangla Insurance and Paramount Insurance.
Anlimayarn Dyeing was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.19 per cent while Samata Leather Complex was the worst loser, losing 8.89 per cent.
The port city’s bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also saw a marginal fall with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 11 points to close at 13,372 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –falling 7.87 points to finish at 8,105.
Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 117 issues closed lower, 67 ended higher and 46 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 3.82 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 76 million in turnover.
