Stocks plunge on Omicron fear
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped 84 points or 1.23% to close at 6,783 points, and the blue-chip index declined 38 points or 1.49% to 2,547 points
Indices of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges witnessed a fall on Sunday at the first trading session of the week driven by the selling pressure due to the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, and the ongoing dispute between the securities regulator and the central bank.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped 84 points or 1.23% to close at 6,783 points, and the blue-chip index declined 38 points or 1.49% to 2,547 points.
Due to selling pressure, the DSE turnover declined to Tk786 crore on the day, a 2.62% lower than Tk807 crore in the previous trading session.
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Due to the massive downfall, most of the companies lost their share price. Out of the 378 issues traded, at the end of Sunday, 266 scripts declined, 87 advanced, and 25 remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, in the previous trading session on Thursday, indices increased after three days fall as investors buying interest in selective stocks uphold the market to close in green trajectory.
"The Dhaka stocks failed to keep up the positive momentum and the equity indices ended in the red trajectory as investors engaged in sell-offs to avoid further correction," EBL Securities said in its daily market commentary on Sunday.
"Insurance sectors dominated the trading board as investors' participation was mostly concentrated in the sectoral scrips," it added.
On the sectoral front, banks have contributed the most by 16.03% to total turnover followed by general insurance by 14.04%, and miscellaneous stocks by 11.14%.
Most of the sectors displayed dismal performance, out of which tannery (-3.6%), jute (-3.6%), and services (-2.2%) observed the most corrections.
Besides, paper (4.1%) and general insurance (3.4%) exerted the most positive returns on the bourse.
The port city bourse, CSE, also settled in red terrain. The All Share Price Index (CASPI) declined by 336.3 points to close at 19735.
Eastern Insurance was the top gainer among all the listed firms followed by Asia Insurance by 9.96%, and Bangladesh National Insurance by 9.95%.
However, SS Steel was the worst share, which fell by 8.41% followed by Aramit Cement by 6.98%, and Fortune Shoes by 6.53%.
