Stocks plummet for third consecutive day

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) passed another volatile day on Tuesday, as concerned investors continued to sell-off shares in fear of further decline in value of stocks, making it the third consecutive day of losses for the DSEX, the DSE's benchmark index.

Over the three trading sessions, the DSEX fell by 144 points, and the market capitalisation dropped by Tk9,723 crore. 

The prime index declined by 60 points on Tuesday to settle at 5,269 points, owing to a huge selling of shares. The day's turnover also declined by approximately 4%, totaling Tk426 crore, according to the DSE. 

Also, on the day, around 85% stocks traded at the Dhaka bourse witnessed price drops, of which prices of 131 stocks fell over 2%. Among these, 54 stocks hit the lower circuit by around 3%, which is the maximum limit for bottom line for a stock in a single day.

Meanwhile, the government on Tuesday decided to resume office operations as usual from today, following which the DSE also announced new trading hours – from 10am to 2:30pm.

EBL Securities in daily market commentary said, the equity indices of the DSE shattered into red terrain for consecutive sessions as nervous investors engaged in dominant selloffs to escape further losses owing to the prolonged volatility in the market with no sign of revival yet.

"The market pulse remained bearish, with the majority of scrips sliding into red territory as cautious investors still shy away from taking positions in equities amidst uncertainties regarding the market's outlook due to concerns surrounding the economic impact of the prevailing unrest, the commentary reads. 

Techno Drug, a newly listed firm on the bourses, topped the gainer chart with a gain by 9.98% to Tk56.2 each. 

After debuting trades on the bourse on 14 July, the shares price of the company has been continuously increasing. The company also topped the trading volume, with 1.53 crore shares traded, valued at Tk83.74 crore.

Reliance Insurance and Orion Infusion followed as top gainers, with Reliance increasing by 4.94% to Tk61.6 each and Orion by 3.90% to Tk532.1 each. 

Padma Life Insurance topped the loser list as its shares price fell by 10.25% to Tk21 each. 

Normally, in a single trading day, stock price may decline by 3%, which counts as lower circuit but Padma Life's share price fell over 10% because of its annual corporate declaration as there were no price limit to go up and down yesterday. 

On the sectoral front, the Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals sector had the highest influence, making up 39.3% of the total market turnover, with Techno Drug alone contributing about 20%. The Food and Bank sectors followed, accounting for 9.1% and 8.6% of the turnover, respectively.

However, the port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also settled on red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) fell by 80 points and 132.2 points, respectively.