Bangladesh's premier bourse Sunday nosedived with stocks extending a sharp losing streak for a second consecutive session amid worldwide uncertainties triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.
On the day, DSEX, the broad index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), lost 163.29 points-billed the highest single-day fall since April 4, 2021.
The DSEX also had lost 109.23 points in the previous trading session executed Thursday.
As a result, the broad index sank 3.92 per cent or 272.52 points in the last couple of sessions.
Executive Director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) Dr Ahsan H Mansur says the Russia-Ukraine war crisis has created a lot of uncertainties as the cost of production and import will escalate amid a surge in prices of oil and gas.
"Our balance of payments is already under pressure and deficits can increase further. That's why many stock markets along with Asian ones have seen large falls in indices," Mr Mansur notes about the pulls and pushes triggered by burst of guns in the energy-rich region.
On Sunday, all sectors of listed securities saw price corrections as the majority of securities plummeted.
A total of 365 issues, out of 379 traded Sunday, closed in red zone while only 10 securities saw marginal rise in market price on the premier bourse, DSE.
Managing Director of IDLC Investments Md. Moniruzzaman feels that a crisis stemming from the outbreak of Russia-Ukraine war played a role behind Thursday's large fall in broad index.
"The country's stock market saw a large plunge Sunday despite Asian stocks recovering the same day. So, it's not possible to judge the extent of war impact behind the fall," says the merchant-bank MD.
Dhaka bourse opened Sunday's session sharp on a negative note, with the DSEX exhibiting a straight fall of 114 points within just 13 minutes.
No strong recovery stance was observed during the rest of the session and the DSEX shed points before the close.
At the end of the session, the DSEX settled at 6676.14 with a loss of 2.38 per cent or 163.29 points.
The broad index lost 181 points on April 4, 2021, and since then, Sunday's loss was the largest.
The two other indices-DSES and DS30--also went down by 1.87 per cent to 2.07 per cent in the day's trading.
Amid the topsy-turvy, the major sectors having notable impact on the broad index saw significant corrections on the premier bourse.
Sunday's turnover value also declined marginally following investors' lower participation.
The DSE posted a turnover of Tk 9.16 billion, 13 per cent less than previous session's trade count.
Of the major sectors, general insurance saw the highest correction of 5.0 per cent followed by life insurance 3.4 per cent, textiles 3.1 per cent, financial institutions 3.1 per cent, and bank 2.4 per cent.
Of large-cap companies, the share prices of Beximco, British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company, Square Pharmaceuticals and Robi Axiata declined ranging 1.46 per cent to 3.02 per cent.
Grameenphone saves the day as the company's share price advanced 0.56 per cent by navigating the Sunday gales.
Some market operators such as International Leasing Securities and EBL Securities feel that jittery investors are in uncertainty following the crisis created by Ukraine-Russia-war issue.
Pacific Denims was the number-one gainer with a rise of 6.02 per cent to close at Tk 14.10 each.
Alltex Industries was the worst loser with a decline of 10 per cent or Tk 2.6 to close at Tk 23.40 each.
CASPI, the benchmark index of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also declined 2.45 per cent or 490.89 points as 284 issues out of 304 lost prices on the day.
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