Stocks tumbled further on Wednesday as panic gripped investors amid growing tension over the impacts of coronavirus.
The market opened on flying note and key index jumped more than 106 points within five minutes of trading riding on the news that the banks have started to invest in the share market from Wednesday.
The banks agreed to invest in stocks from Wednesday after holding a meeting on Monday of the chairmen and managing directors of all the banks with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
However, the positive momentum failed to sustain as panic-driven investors went to sell-off to escape further losses.
At the end of the session, DSEX settled at 3,603, shedding 169 points or 4.46 per cent.
The index sank the below the 3,600-mark, lowest in nearly seven years since May 9, 2013.
The DSE core index lost 1,165 points, wiping out market capitalisation of Tk 698 billion within a month as panic gripped investors.
DSEX also lost 279 points on March 9, the biggest single-day fall since its inception in 2013, a day after Bangladesh confirmed three cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by new coronavirus.
Market operators said investors dumped their holdings amid growing concern over the impact of coronavirus outbreak as one more case was confirmed on Wednesday, taking total number 11.
They said frightened investors lost trust in the market due to coronavirus outbreak, which caused further disruption in companies and the world economy.
Two other indices also saw sharp fall. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, dropped 61.63 points to close at 1,203 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 39.28 points to finish at 834.
Turnover, an important indicator of the market, fell to Tk 4.29 billion, which was 5.66 per cent higher than the previous day’s Tk 4.06 billion.
Out of 356 issues traded, 333 closed lower, only 13 ended higher and 13 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 137,191 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 178.48 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE also fell to Tk 2,873 billion on Wednesday, from Tk 2,988 billion in the previous session.
Square Pharma topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 186 million changing hands, closely followed by Grameenphone, Monno Ceramic, LafargeHolcim and Orion Pharma.
EBL First Mutual Fund was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 5.40 per cent while ICB AMCL Third NRB Mutual Fund was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also plunged with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 442 points to close at 11,133 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –slumping by 270 points to finish at 6,746.
Here too, the losers beat gainers, as 219 issues closed lower, 19 ended higher and 10 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 10.11 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 156 million in turnover.
