Stocks extended the losing streak for the second straight session on Wednesday as investors released their holdings amid growing macroeconomic worries.
The market opened on a positive note and the key index rose about 8.0 points within the first 25 minutes of the trading. But, the rest of the session went down steadily, ultimately ending over 30 points lower.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 30.68 points to settle at 6,325. DSEX lost over 42 points in the past two consecutive sessions.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 7.02 billion, which was 3.40 per cent higher than the previous day’s tally of Tk 6.79 billion.
Analysts said the market outlook remains gloomy as investors are concerned about several macroeconomic issues such as the energy crisis due to gas shortages, inflationary pressure, depreciating currency, rising Covid-19 cases etc.
The ongoing bearish sentiment made investors cautious while the news of foreign-exchange reserves fell below $40 billion, hitting two years low, kept them worried, said a merchant banker.
“Investors were unnerved over concerns about macro-economic cues of the country,” he said.
Two other indices ended lower. The DS30 Index dropped 11.18 points to close at 2,273 and the DSES Index shed 7.91 points to finish at 1,378.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 381 issues traded, 259 declined, 77 advanced and 45 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Fortune Shoes was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 498 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco, IPDC Finance, Titas Gas and Delta Life Insurance.
The junk stock Meghna Condensed Milk was the top gainer, posting a 9.55 per cent gain while Advent Pharma was the day’s worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 72 points to settle at 18,615 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –shedding 43 points to close at 11,155.
Of the issues traded, 177 declined, 61 advanced and 32 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 8.10 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value worth Tk 224 million.
