Stocks slide further amid escalating Middle East war
Stocks at the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses fell today as investor caution intensified amid the escalating US-Israeli conflict with Iran, dragging down major indices despite a 7% surge in turnover.
Stocks at the Dhaka bourse declined further today (29 March) as investor sentiment weakened amid the escalating US-Israeli war on Iran.
Since the war began on 28 February, most trading sessions have witnessed sell-offs, dragging down share prices and overall market capitalisation, although a brief rebound was recorded in the first session after the Eid holiday on 25 March when the benchmark index gained 31 points.
Yesterday, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, fell by 44 points to close at 5,272, as investors adopted a cautious stance, leading to declines in 63% of traded stocks.
Besides that, DSES, the Shariah index declined 7 points to 1,066, and DS30, the blue-chip index, fell 21 points to 1,998.
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Despite cautious sentiment in the market, turnover on the DSE surged 7% to Tk646 crore, while market capitalisation – the total value of companies' outstanding shares – dropped by Tk3,268 crore to Tk6.95 lakh crore.
Of the traded stocks, 114 advanced, 250 declined and 30 remained unchanged.
EBL Securities, in its daily market commentary, said the capital bourse failed to extend the recovery momentum as investors continued their cautious stance amid lingering uncertainties stemming from the Middle East conflict, triggering a broad-based sell-off across the trading board.
"The market opened on a dismal note as selling pressure remained predominant from the opening bell. Despite an attempt for partial recovery from the initial plunge, the market largely remained under sustained downward pressure throughout the session, with most scrips closing in negative territory," it said.
On the sectoral front, the Pharmaceutical and the Chemical sectors issues exerted the highest by 17.6% in total turnover, followed by the Engineering sector 12.9% and the Bank 9.9%.
Sectors displayed mixed returns, out of which the Paper, the Ceramic and the Mutual Fund exhibited the most positive returns on the bourse.
Bangladesh Autocars topped the gainer chart with its share price surging by 6.91% to Tk185.1 each, followed by BD Thai Foods by 9.30% to Tk18.8 each, PHP Mutual Fund One by 9.09% to Tk3.6 each, Techno Drugs by 8.91% to Tk33 each and IFIC First Mutual Fund by 8.33% to Tk3.9 each.
While on the loser list, Prime Textile was at the top as its share price fell 6.86% to Tk19 each, followed by Sea Pearl Beach Resorts by 5.14% to Tk38.7 each, Orion Infusion by 4.61% to Tk343 each, ICB Agrani First Mutual Fund by 4.34% to Tk6.6 each, and Phoenix Finance by 4.25% to Tk4.5 each.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also settled in a negative zone. The Selective Categories' Index (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) lost 165.4 points and 245.9 points, respectively.
