Stocks in a bloodbath
The investors, desperate to book profits or minimise losses to hold some cash ultimately, kept pushing Dhaka-Chattogram stocks lower for the fourth straight session on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the short-term stock traders who were chasing the quick stunning rallies, especially in life insurance stocks, saw severe losses.
Some stocks, like Meghna Life were down by one-fourth from the recent high in just four sessions throughout Wednesday.
DSEX, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell by 0.38% to 6,275 during the closing bell, creating panic on the street as the index hitting above 6,350 earlier this month attracted a large number of retail investors to bet aggressively.
Forty-five scrips, mostly low-cap ones, advanced in the DSE, 117 declined.
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Turnover in the premier bourse was Tk723 crore, 8.1% higher than the previous session.
At the peak of the recent rally, turnover was nearly double of what it was yesterday. Now, perplexed investors slowed down their trading amid losses.
Stockbrokers blamed the general caution about the upcoming monetary policy statement that was expected to let interest rates rise a bit, and the political uncertainties ahead of the national election six months later.
Smart investors were the winners who picked stocks during the recent consolidation and started offloading after some gains in two-three months, they added.
No sector had a positive return on Wednesday, and the fall was led by the life insurance, cement, IT, travel, services and the general insurance sectors.
The major index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange also plunged by 0.4% to 11,096 while turnover in the port city bourse was 62% higher at Tk15.7 crore.
