Stocks extended the losing streak for seven straight sessions on Wednesday as the jittery investors kept their sell-off amid deepening economic uncertainty.
After witnessing volatility throughout the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 14.39 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 61.38.
DSEX shed more than 227 points in the past seven days after the Eid vacation.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 7.15 points to finish at 2,206 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 1.80 points to close at 1,346.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, however, jumped 108 per cent to Tk 6.65 billion, up from the previous day’s 16-month lowest turnover of Tk 3.19 billion.
Market insiders said the cautious investors kept their sell-off as they fear deepening challenges in the coming months amid the ongoing global economic turmoil which impacted the Bangladesh economy.
The market has been struggling for the past few months since the Russia-Ukraine war began which was exacerbated by the government’s measures to restrain energy as a safeguard against the global economic instability, said a stockbroker.
“The market outlook remains gloomy as investors are concerned about macroeconomic issues such as energy crisis, inflationary pressure and depreciating local currency,” he said.
Many stocks were buyer-less as no scrip can fall by more than 2.0 per cent in a day due to circuit breakers, said a merchant banker.
“Some of the investors are stuck with heavy losses in their portfolios and cannot get out of it,” he said.
Out of 381 issues traded, 218 declined, 110 advanced and 53 remained unchanged.
However, junk stocks kept gaining and featured in the top gainers’ chart despite the heavyweight stocks kept losing.
The scam-hit Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company was the top gainer for the second straight day, soaring 8.86 per cent, while IPDC Finance was the worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 36 points to settle at 18,030 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –shedding 22 points to close at 10,801.
Of the issues traded, 185 declined, 69 advanced and 33 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 6.85 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value worth Tk 164 million.
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