Stocks nosedive for three straight sessions

Stocks at the Dhaka bourse extended their losing streak for a third consecutive session today (17 December), as investor participation remained shaky ahead of the national election scheduled for February next year.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), has shed a total of 110 points over the last three trading days, including a 36-point drop today, bringing the index down to 4,853.

Amid heavy sell-offs, prices of 299 stocks, or 79% of the traded issues, declined, while 48 advanced and 43 remained unchanged. Market turnover fell 9% to Tk375.78 crore, reflecting subdued investor activity.

Market insiders and analysts attribute the slump to growing political uncertainty surrounding the upcoming election. While institutional investors are largely adopting a "wait-and-see" approach, some are reportedly reshuffling portfolios into specific sectors with better long-term prospects.

They added that small investors, who are already in the red following the previous downturn, remain largely inactive as their portfolios have been significantly eroded.

According to the DSE trading data, the market witnessed an upward momentum till 12.30pm; however, a surge in sell-offs during the latter half of the session pushed the indices into negative territory.

Among the other indices, the DSE Shariah Index fell 7 points to 1,008, while the DS30, the blue-chip index, declined by 7.97 points to 1,869.

Progati Life Insurance topped the gainers' list, rising 10% to Tk44 per share, followed by Dominage Steel, which gained 5.77% to Tk29.3, and Renwick Jajneswar, up 5.39% to Tk570.

On the losing side, Prime Finance led the decliners, shedding 8.33% to Tk1.1 per share. It was followed by Khan Brothers PP Woven Bags, down 8.06% to Tk47.9, and BD Thai Foods, which fell 7.48% to Tk13.6.