Stocks plunge as selling pressure deepens at Dhaka bourse

Stocks tumbled today (15 December) as renewed selling pressure dragged the market deeper into negative territory, extending the ongoing losing streak at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) amid cautious investor sentiment and weak participation.

The benchmark DSEX index dropped 42 points to close at 4,890, marking a second straight day of decline. Over the past two sessions, the index has shed a total of 73 points, while market capitalisation has eroded by around Tk5,800 crore, reflecting sustained risk aversion among investors. 

The blue-chip DS30 index also suffered, shedding 14 points to settle at 1,877, indicating broad-based weakness across large-cap stocks. The SME platform mirrored the downtrend, with the DSMEX index slipping 24 points to close at 849.

Market breadth was decisively negative, as declining stocks far outnumbered gainers. Only 48 issues advanced, while 292 declined and 48 remained unchanged, highlighting the dominance of sellers throughout the session. 

Trading activity also eased, as turnover declined 10% to Tk413 crore. 

EBL Securities said in its daily market review, the capital bourse extended its losing streak for a second consecutive session as investor jitters surrounding the unfolding political situation induced a persistent broad-based selling pressure that weighed down the market indices amid broadly subdued market momentum.

Following a lacklustre opening, sellers maintained their control as the session progressed, which waned investor confidence further and triggered intensified selling in the latter half of the session that dragged most scrips into the negative territory, it added.

All major large-cap sectors closed in the red, further weighing on the indices. Non-bank financial institutions led the losses, as the sector declined by 1.77%. Engineering stocks followed, dropping 1.21%, while the fuel and power sector lost 0.97%. Banking shares slipped 0.82%, pharmaceuticals fell 0.80%, telecommunications declined 0.65%, and food and allied stocks shed 0.48%.

Despite the broader sell-off, a handful of stocks managed to post notable gains, largely driven by speculative interest and stock-specific factors. 

Union Insurance emerged as the top gainer, rising 9.79%, followed by Prime Finance, which climbed 8.33%. Reliance One Mutual Fund advanced 7.38%, while Queen South Textile Mills and Wata Chemical gained 7.01% and 6.14% respectively. 

On the losing side, several stocks faced steep corrections. Familytex dropped 7.69%, Asiatic Laboratories fell 6.36%, and both GSP Finance and Premier Leasing declined by 6.25% each. Bd Thai Aluminium also came under pressure, losing 5.93%.

The Chattogram Stock Exchange also closed lower, reflecting the broader bearish sentiment. The CSCX index dropped 48 points to settle at 8,477, while the CASPI index fell 76 points to close at 13,770. 

Turnover at the port city bourse plunged sharply by 58% to Tk5.16 crore, underscoring weak investor participation outside Dhaka as well