Stocks tumble on heavy sale pressure
The BSEC chairman directed four state-owned banks and the ICB to increase investments in the market
Indices of both stock exchanges witnessed a notable setback during Sunday's trading session as risk-averse investors went for heavy sale of major stocks.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell by 58.60 points or 1.19% to 4,858.
The All Shares Price Index (CASPI) at the port city bourse also ended marginally lower — losing 148 points to close at 13,880 while the Selective Categories Index, CSCX, shed 86 points to reach 8,337.
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However, turnover at the DSE, a monumental indicator of the market, rose by 10% to Tk875.10 crore.
Market analysts said investors mostly had taken a sideline approach in the midst of the bearish vibe and remained vigilant to restructure their portfolios considering the upcoming earnings declaration.
A senior officer of a leading brokerage firm said the World Bank's forecasts of lower GDP growth for Bangladesh also provoked investors to sell shares.
"Most of the investors think the capital market will be in long-term depression due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the business sectors will survive during the depression for the next two or three years," he added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam at a meeting on Sunday directed four state-owned banks – Sonali, Rupali, Janata and Agrani – and the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) to increase their investments in the capital market.
Bangladesh's GDP growth is projected at 1.60% for the current fiscal year as the country struggles with the devastating impacts of the lingering Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank said in its twice-a-year regional update on Thursday.
As for two other indices of the DSE, the blue-chip index, DS30, lost 21.77 points to finish at 1,647 and the DSE Shariah Index, DSES, fell by 10.16 points to close at 1,098.
The insurance sector dominated the turnover chart, with Rupali Insurance topping it with trading shares worth Tk27.50 crore, closely followed by Republic Insurance, Federal Insurance, BD Finance, and Walton Hi-Tech Industries.
Most of the companies are losing share prices as out of the 355 issues traded, 239 ended lower, 80 closed higher while 36 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Most of the sectors displayed dismal performance. Jute lost 4.5% of market capitalisation, followed by textile (3.5%) and financial institutions (3.4%).
On the top ten loser list at the DSE, five companies were from the financial institution sector, with BIFC being the top loser as it lost 9.83% of its share price.
However, the mutual fund sector saw the highest gain of 4.52%, followed by insurance (2.2%) and engineering sector (0.40%).
On the top ten gainer list at the DSE, seven companies were from the insurance sector and the rest of the issues came from mutual funds.
Rupali Life Insurance was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.90%.
