FE ONLINE REPORT |
Published:
February 20, 2022 4:09:05 p.m.
| Update:
February 20, 2022 8:56:12 PM
The market plunged further on Sunday as risk-averse investors dumped their holdings in the sector’s top stocks, fearing a further plunge in share prices.
After falling below the “psychological” threshold of 7,000 points the previous day, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) core index slipped 64.73 points or 0.92% to settle at 6,926.
Two other indexes also ended sharply lower with the DSE 30 index, made up of blue chips, which plunged 28.23 points to end at 2,545 and the DSE Shariah index (DSES) lost 9.37 points to close at 1,498.
Turnover, a crucial market indicator, remained weak and stood at 11.40 billion taka, 13.4% lower than the previous day’s tally of 10.05 billion taka.
Market operators said strong sell-offs in major sector shares further pushed shares lower.
Bangladesh Bank’s recent circular on capital market exposure limit for non-banking financial institutions has caused panic among investors, they said.
The central bank has placed non-banking financial institutions under its regular supervision by specifying the components of their investments in the capital market.
NBFIs have been requested to submit capital market investment report to Bangladesh Bank on a quarterly basis, according to a BB notification released last week.
Price erosion of large-cap stocks such as Grameephone, British American Tobacco, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Walton, Square Pharma, Beximco and Robi contributed to the market’s slide, according to amarstock.com, a market data analyst .
The prices of more than 71% of the issues traded closed in the red as out of 380 issues traded, 270 fell, 77 advanced and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Fortune Shoes leads the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 1.90 billion, followed by Beximco (Tk 550 million), National Life Insurance (Tk 395 million), Orion Pharma ( 335 million Tk) and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (198 million Tk).
Hakkani Pulp & Paper was the day’s biggest gainer, posting a 10% gain, while Genex Infosys was the worst loser, losing 8.73%.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended sharply lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – losing 229 points to settle at 20,230 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX losing 139 points to close at 12,143.
Of the issues traded, 211 declined, 77 advanced, and 25 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city stock exchange traded 14.88 million shares and units of mutual funds with a turnover value of about 375 million taka.
[email protected]