Dhaka stocks continued to fall for the third consecutive session on Thursday, as the investors’ confidence were decreasing again amid the current volatility on the market, market operators said.
They said that the Bangladesh Bank’s decision on increasing repo rates, which may lead to interest rate hikes in the money market, would not be helpful for the capital market, as investors might shift funds to banks.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, decreased by 29.73 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 5,661.04 points on the day after losing 34.49 points in the previous trading session.
Market operators also said that the devaluation of the taka against the dollar might add to the depressed state of the market.
With investors increasing their activity on the selling side, the total turnover of the Dhaka bourse increased, they said.
The total turnover of the DSE on Thursday was Tk 911.37 crore, while the bourse posted Tk 869.59 crore as the total turnover amount in the previous session.
The total turnover of the Dhaka bourse on Tuesday of this week crossed Tk 1,100-crore mark after 83 days.
The last time Dhaka Stock Exchange posted the total turnover over Tk 1,100 crore was on February 14, 2024, with the turnover amount standing at Tk 1,173.58 crore on the day.
According to EBL Securities daily market research, investor sentiment observed a fresh blow amidst emerging external challenges arising from tightened money market conditions following the latest directives from the central bank that hampered the market’s recovery from its prolonged depressed state.
The market was on the rebound before Tuesday, which came after a decrease in price indices in nine out of 11 weeks, market operators said.
Of the 392 issues traded on the day, 93 advanced, 258 declined and 41 remained unchanged.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by textile and food stocks.
EBL Securities in its daily market commentary said, ‘Sellers ended up on the dominant side despite the market being flat until mid-session with active participation from both sides of the trading fence, while selling pressures piled up in the latter half of the session as risk-averse investors preferred to liquidate their holdings amidst concerns over the market outlook.’
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 7.84 points, or 0.62 per cent, to close at 1,242.57 points on Thursday.
The DS30 index lost 10.98 points, or 0.54 per cent, to finish at 2,015.23 points.
Asiatic Laboratories topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk 39.32 crore changing hands.
Malek Spinning Mills, Best Holdings, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Orion Infusion Ltd, eGeneration, Golden Son, Paramount Textile, Far East Knitting & Dyeing Industries and Alif Industries were the other turnover leaders.
