Stocks on Dhaka's capital market have suffered the biggest percentage decline in 11 months driven by sell-offs as concerns over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine continue to prey on the minds of investors.
The DSEX, the main index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dropped 182.12 points or 2.74 per cent to close at 6,456.51 points on Monday. This marks the biggest slide in a day since Apr 4 last year when the gauge fell by 3.44 per cent, reports bdnews24.com.
Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, could not pinpoint any reason for the bearish spell.
"Our market has the potential to counteract the effects of rising oil prices or the effects of war on our country. So this shouldn't have a big impact," he said.
"I think investors are selling shares out of fear as they will suffer losses if the value of their shares drops."
On Monday, crude oil prices soared past $130 a barrel, its highest since 2008, as the United States and its European allies began weighing the prospect of banning imports of Russian oil.
Asian markets were a sea of red as Japan's Nikkei sank 3.4 per cent to a 15-month low, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 2.4 per cent. Chinese blue chips shed 2.3 per cent.
Europe's benchmark STOXX index fell 2.82 per cent to a year-long low, as Germany's DAX looked set to confirm a bear market after suffering a 20 per cent decline since its January high.
Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments, attributed the slump in Bangladesh's capital market to panic over soaring oil prices.
"Investors are a little scared of the news of rising oil prices this morning. That's why they gave up their shares out of fear.”
Due to the pressure created by the sell-offs, transactions at the Dhaka bourse increased by 13.61 per cent on Monday.
The DSE ended the day with a turnover of Tk 7.4 billion, up from Tk 6.51 billion the previous working day.
As much as 96 per cent of listed companies saw their share prices drop. In contrast, only 2 per cent of companies experienced gains while the remaining 2 per cent of firms managed to maintain their share value.
Among the two other indices of the Dhaka bourse, the DSES or Shariah index shed 36.62 points to close at 1,394.40, while the DS30 stood at 2,374.39 after losing 64.55 points.
The Chattogram Stock Exchange also suffered losses as its main index, the CASPI, slid 455.36 points or 2.34 per cent to close at 18,989.12.
The CSE's turnover was Tk 29 million more than the previous day.
