Stocks nosedive again amid inflation worries

Thursday's closing notes hinting for a bounce-back did not sustain on Sunday as investors sold off stocks at both Dhaka and Chattogram bourses.

DSEX, the broad-based index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), closed 0.74% lower on Sunday to 6,855, which is the lowest since 31 August.

Analysts and stockbrokers said the overall downward pressure intensified on Sunday as inflation worries further shook investors' confidence.

A sharp hike in diesel price that is threatening an even sharper hike in public transport fare has added to the already existing inflation worries.

Global commodity market hike along with the local factors has already created pressure on limited income household's monthly budgets and further inflation might cut people's disposable income drastically, a market analyst told The Business Standard during the trading hours.

On top of that, the transport strike following the diesel price hike is also hurting the confidence of the investors.

"The ongoing countrywide transport strike kept investors worried as they fear that export-oriented companies may observe supply chain disruption," said EBL Securities in its daily market commentary on Sunday.

The negative developments are adding to the previous ones such as profit booking after a sharp 15-month rally, slowdown of fund inflow into stocks amid the possibly rock-bottomed interest rates.

DSEX more than doubled in 15 months to 7,410 points in early October and since then the market has been in a sharp correction.

Investors' efforts to minimise losses early also intensified selloffs on Sunday.

EBL Securities wrote to their clients, "The stock market nosedived today after a single-day break, as investors started to trim early losses and engaged in selloffs amidst day-long volatility in the market."

As many investors remained on the side-lines amid a lack of hints on market direction, daily turnover at the DSE squeezed below TK1,200 crore nowadays.

However, due to increased selling pressure, DSE turnover rose 7.22% to Tk1,145 crore on Sunday, while on Thursday the turnover dropped below Tk1,070 crore despite some efforts for turnaround.

On the sectoral front, miscellaneous, textile, and banking contributed to the maximum 20.29%, 15.7%, and 14% of the daily turnover at the DSE, respectively.

Most of the sectors faced market cap contraction, out of which cement, paper, and tannery led the table of fall with 4.1%, 3.5%, and 2.7% contraction in their respective market capitalisation on Sunday.

On the other hand, food, life insurance, and miscellaneous sectors' market capitalisation rose moderately.

Reflecting a desperate sale-off, only 49 scrips gained at the DSE on Sunday, against a fall of 303 while 25 scrips remained unchanged.

For the first time since 22 August, DSE's total market capitalisation came below Tk5.5 lakh crore on Sunday.

Indices at the Chittagong Stock Exchange also closed in red territory, reflecting the same market situation at the port-city bourse.